Archaeology in Northumberland

Archaeology 

in NorthumberlandVOL 

22 

Celebrating 25 years 

of Archaeology in 

Northumberland

Foreword 

As the Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, I am 

delighted to welcome you to the 22nd edition of Archaeology in 

Northumberland. This issue showcases some of the highlights of recent 

archaeological work undertaken in Northumberland and, remarkably, 

celebrates two 25-year anniversaries. 

Firstly, it is 25 years since the first issue of Archaeology in 

Northumberland was published in 1991. Over these years the magazine 

has seen many changes, including embracing full colour, growing in size 

and becoming available online, but it continues to report on an ever 

widening range of heritage and archaeological activities carried out 

across the County. Archaeology in Northumberland has also attracted a 

‘Friends of’ group whose members provide invaluable support for the 

publication of the magazine. 

We are also celebrating the 25th anniversary of developer-funded 

archaeology. When the government introduced guidance on 

Archaeology and Planning in 1991, it changed the way archaeology 

was considered. Instead of rescue operations being launched, 

developers became responsible for ensuring that archaeological remains 

affected by their proposals were properly investigated. This work 

has made a huge contribution to our knowledge and understanding 

of the past and revealed many new and exciting discoveries in 

Northumberland which have been revisited on pages 4-13. 

Alongside this commercially funded work, community interest in 

the heritage of Northumberland continues to grow. It is particularly 

pleasing to see an ever-increasing number of local groups exploring 

their heritage and some of the results of this work are published here, 

including Altogether Archaeology (page 42), Flodden 500 (page 18), 

Holystone (page 52), Tynedale North of the Wall (page 32) and the 

National Park volunteers on the Otterburn Ranges (page 49). 

This issue also reports on the final phase of the multi-million pound 

heritage-led regeneration schemes in Berwick, where tangible 

improvements to shopfronts and buildings have been accompanied 

by exciting creative projects recording more ephemeral things, like 

memories, anecdotes and atmosphere (page 34). With this hugely 

successful project nearing completion, it gives me great pleasure 

to report that significant funding has been secured for several new 

projects in the County. In particular, the Heritage Lottery Fund 

has awarded £1.8million to the Peregrini Lindisfarne Landscape 

Partnership which started three community projects this year and I 

look forward to reading about their results in future issues. 

Allan Hepple 

Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth 

Archaeology in Northumberland 1

Welcome 

2 Archaeology in Northumberland 

At last, welcome to the 22nd edition of Archaeology in Northumberland, 

which again has been a long time in the making. We would like to thank 

you for your patience as it is almost two years since the last issue was 

published and this volume introduces a wide range of work that has been 

carried out between 2013 and 2015. 

In that time we have faced a number of challenges, not least of which 

is the absence of our friend and colleague, Chris Burgess, through long 

term illness. Without Chris’s presence and hands-on design input you 

will probably notice the look of the magazine has changed a little but 

we hope that you will find it recognisable and equally attractive. As a 

slight departure from the usual format, we have published the list of 

archaeological assessments, evaluations and other work (grey literature) 

on our website so that we can devote more space in the magazine to 

topical pieces. 

To celebrate our 25th anniversary, and that of developer-funded archaeology 

in England, we have compiled a special review which showcases the sites 

that have contributed to our growing knowledge and understanding of 

Northumberland’s past. It shows the wide range of sites that have been 

investigated and the large number of people and organisations that have 

been involved over the years. 

We hope you enjoy this issue and would like to thank all the Friends 

of Archaeology in Northumberland whose continued support 

makes it possible to publish this magazine. 

Sara Rushton 

Liz Williams

Contents 

Celebrating 25 years of development-led 

archaeology 1990-2015 4 

New prehistoric rock art discovery at Birney Hill, Ponteland 14 

Grazing on Ha’Hill, Morpeth 16 

Flodden Hill 2013-15 18 

Barmoor Wind Farm 20 

Iron Age Settlement at St George’s Hospital, Morpeth 22 

A NU Young Archaeologists Club for the uplands 24 

Rescued from the Sea 25 

Investigations at the Premonstratensian 

Abbey of Blanchland 26 

Medieval Shotton 29 

Did Bamburgh shipwreck inspire first coastguards? 30 

Wilds of Wanney 31 

British Rock Art News 31 

Community archaeology north of Hadrian’s Wall 32 

The Vicar’s Pele, Corbridge 33 

Layers of localism and regeneration in 

Berwick-upon-Tweed 34 

Europe’s lost frontiers: Doggerland and the 

Mesolithic-Neolithic transition 36 

Archaeological Investigations at Well Hill, Stannington 38 

New approaches at Yeavering 40 

Altogether Archaeology in the North Pennines 

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 42 

Belsay Castle 45 

Heritage at Risk 46 

Excavations at Bolton Chapel 48 

Keeping it local 49 

Bradford Kaims Wetland Heritage Project 50 

In search of Holystone Priory 52 

Roman stones at West Uppertown Farm 56 

Portable Antiquities in Northumberland 58 

New designations 60 


Celebrating 25 years of developme 


As regular readers will know, 

Archaeology in Northumberland 

has been reporting news of 

archaeological discoveries 

in the county for 25 years – 

coincidentally the same period 

that developer-funded archaeology 

has been around. In 1990 the 

way in which archaeological sites 

were recorded ahead of their 

destruction by development was 

fundamentally changed. The issue 

of new government guidance on 

Archaeology and Planning (PPG 

16) set out a clear presumption in 

favour of the physical preservation 

of archaeological remains and 

where this was not possible 

developers were required to carry 

out investigations at their own 

expense. The policy is now built 

into the National Planning Policy 

Framework (NPPF). 

The following synopsis celebrates 

25 years since archaeology was 

made part of the system for 

granting planning permission. 

These discoveries have shed new 

light on the county’s ancient 

and recent past and have also 

contributed to changing views 

of the North East region and our 

ideas about England’s past. All 

the work described below has 

been required by Northumberland 

County Council and its predecessor 

local planning authorities, on 

the advice of Northumberland 

Conservation. 

An aurochs skull and red deer antlers from Haughton Strother Quarry. 

Photo PCA. 

A later Neolithic long house at 

Cheviot Quarry. Photo ARS. 

Cache of flint 

blades from 

Akeldsteads. 

Photo ARS. 

Prehistory 

When the last Ice Age ended 

12,000 years ago, forests and 

grassland established as the 

climate warmed, providing a 

rich environment for animals 

and people to colonise. A rare 

discovery of two Mesolithic 

aurochs skulls (a species of wild 

cattle) and red deer antler was 

made at Haughton Strother Quarry 

on the River North Tyne. The skull 

dated between 5670 and 5520 BC 

and was recovered by Thompsons 

of Prudhoe from a palaeochannel 

on an ancient river terrace, 

previously identified by Newcastle 

University. The skulls and antlers 

are of great significance in regional 

terms since animal remains 

from the late Mesolithic period, 

particularly from inland areas, are 

scarce and generally very poorly 

preserved. Equally rare is evidence 

of human settlement – a possible

nt-led archaeology 1990-2015 

Iron Age settlement 

excavations at Blagdon 

(Delhi). 

Photo TWM Archaeology 

post-built structure found at 

Lanton Quarry in excavations for 

Tarmac Northern may be evidence 

of a small hut similar to that 

recorded in research excavations 

on the coast at Howick. 

The transition from the huntergatherer 

to farming way of life took 

place slowly from around 4000 BC. 

Evidence of this more settled way 

of life has been revealed in sand 

and gravel quarries in the Milfield 

Basin in north Northumberland 

where archaeologists have been 

working with Tarmac Northern 

since 2005 at two quarries (Cheviot 

and Lanton). A unique sequence 

of buildings was found at Cheviot 

Quarry where two early Neolithic 

round houses and three later 

Neolithic long houses together 

with hearths, pits and other 

structures and a great quantity of 

pottery, stone tools and objects may 

represent the earliest small farming 

settlement in Northumberland. 

What is more remarkable is the 

quantity and nature of pottery 

from the site, including 15 sherds 

of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age 

beakers from non-grave contexts, 

including All Over Corded Ware. 

Before these excavations there 

had been little information about 

the character of early Neolithic 

pottery in the county. Further 

probable Neolithic buildings 

with associated hearths, pits and 

postholes containing Neolithic 

pottery were revealed at Lanton 

Quarry. At Milfield village the 

remains of a short-lived Neolithic- 

Early Bronze Age dwelling was 

found that was in use at the 

same time as nearby henges and 

is the first evidence in this area 

for where the henge builders 

lived. One of the best caches 

of Neolithic flint blades in the 

county was discovered prior to 

gravel extraction at Akeld Steads 

by Tarmac. Away from the Milfield 

Basin, archaeologists working on 

Holy Island for Nichol, Armstrong 

& Lowe uncovered a possible 

Neolithic pit and postholes 

arrangement which is the earliest 

known structure on the island. 

The transition to the Bronze Age 

occurred around 2500 BC and 

pollen analysis shows woods were 

disappearing and grassland and 

moorland was on the increase as 

farming developed and spread. 

The sand and gravel workings at 

Lanton and Cheviot Quarries have 

revealed evidence of Bronze Age 

settlement and at Cheviot Quarry 

archaeologists also found evidence of 

massive enclosures, small horseshoeshaped 

enclosures and pits, all close 

to the ritual monuments of the 

Milfield Basin. 

Iron began to replace bronze in tool 

making around 1000 BC although 

it did not become common until 

around 500 BC. The Bronze Age 

way of life is thought to have 

continued relatively unchanged 

into the Iron Age – farming cattle 

and sheep, raising crops and using 

the natural resources of the coast. 

However, settlements began to 

change from being open groups of 

hut circles to ones surrounded by 

banks, ditches or wooden palisades. 


Celebrating 25 years of development-led archaeo 

Pit alignments. Photo TWM Archaeology. 


In south-east Northumberland 

and neighbouring Tyne and Wear, 

archaeologists working on surface 

mine and housing development 

sites have made significant 

discoveries that have changed 

the way we think about Iron Age 

settlement on the coastal plain. 

These discoveries have shown a 

previously unsuspected density of 

settlement activity and the rich 

and varied archaeological potential 

that survives. The results have been 

brought together in The Iron Age on 

the Northumberland Coastal Plain, 

published by TWM Archaeology 

and the Arbeia Society in 2012. 

In south-east Northumberland, for 

example, large Iron Age enclosed 

settlements and a number of 

smaller unenclosed settlements 

have been excavated at Pegswood 

Moor Farm, Blagdon and Shotton 

on behalf of Banks Mining. The 

Pegswood Moor Farm example 

was an Iron Age and Romano- 

British settlement and field system 

of a type previously unknown in 

this part of Northumberland; and 

at Blagdon Park the complete 

plan of an Iron Age settlement 

was revealed, closely followed by 

the discovery of a small Iron Age 

settlement at Shotton. The variety 

and complexity of these new Iron 

Age settlements means that the 

typical rectilinear form identified by 

George Jobey and Norman McCord 

in the 1960s and 1970s is now 

recognised as only one component 

in the settlement pattern of the 

lowland plain. 

Alongside the discovery of 

prehistoric settlements, some 

remarkable pit alignments spanning 

the late Bronze Age to early Iron

logy – 1990-2015 

Lanton Iron Age cist and burial. 

Photo ARS. 

Age periods were found at Blagdon 

Park and Shotton. Here, long lines 

of pits snaked their way across the 

landscape demonstrating a regular 

system of land division, perhaps 

demarcating resources such as 

pasture and woodland and access 

to the river Blyth for particular 

communities or settlements. 

One of the greatest gaps in our 

knowledge of Iron Age people is 

where and how they dealt with 

their dead. Excavations at Lanton 

Quarry revealed the first formal 

Iron Age burial from the county, 

where remains of an elderly woman 

were found in a stone cist set 

within a pit. 

The natural resources of the 

coast were an important part of 

prehistoric life. Excavations on the 

cliff tops at Needles Eye, Berwick, 

in advance of an extension 

to the North Road Industrial 

Estate, found a substantial Iron 

Age camp. It may have been 

used only seasonally or annually, 

because although there was no 

evidence of settlement here the 

pottery assemblage does suggest 

some habitation. The camp 

site continued in use into the 

first century AD although the 

ditches of the enclosure had 

been abandoned by then. In the 

abandoned ditches of the camp 

a substantial and important 

assemblage of Iron Age ceramics 

was found, including briquetage 

(associated with salt production 

and trade). The finds include one 

of the largest assemblages of Iron 

Age pottery recovered from a 

site in Northumberland and the 

largest assemblage of briquetage 

then discovered in Britain and the 

only evidence for prehistoric salt 

processing north of the Fens. 

Roman 

The advent of Roman Britain 

followed the invasion of the south 

coast of England in AD43. In the 

early AD70s, the Roman governor 

of Britain took over the whole of 

the North of England and by AD81 

Agricola had advanced the Roman 

front line into Scotland. Gravel 

extraction at Wooperton Quarry by 

RMC Aggregates (Northern) gave 

the opportunity for archaeologists 

to investigate the Devil’s Causeway 

Roman road which travels 

through the county from north 

of Corbridge towards Berwick. 

Unexpectedly, as well as sections 

of the road, excavations revealed 

pit alignments, rectilinear ditches/ 

gullies, pits and postholes together 

with Roman pottery which seem 

likely to represent the first recorded 

Roman military site north of Low 

Learchild fort. 

Well-preserved Roman roads have 

also been uncovered elsewhere in 

the county. In excavations at Riding 

Mill for Meadowcroft Estates, 

Dere Street was found to be in 

a far better state of preservation 

than had been anticipated. At 

Walwick Hall, excavations on 

behalf of Mr G Wylie revealed the 

remains of the Military Way lying 

slightly north of the projected line 

on Ordnance Survey maps and 

comprising smooth but irregularshaped 

and sized stone slabs, blocks 

and cobbles. Its appearance was 

considerably different to that of the 

same road seen further east on the 

western fringes of Newcastle upon 

Tyne. 

New and innovative techniques 

were used by the Ministry of 

Defence to investigate Hadrian’s 

Wall near Albemarle Barracks. 

Remains of the Wall lie beneath 

the B6318 through much of the 

county so when the barracks 

became a driver-training facility for 

heavy lorries and tracked vehicles 

research was commissioned 

to see what impact this might 

have on the buried remains. 

Using a combination of desk top 

assessment, trial trenching, an 

engineering test called Falling 

Weight Deflectometer and 

vibration testing, the results were 

reassuring that modern military use 

of the old Military Road was not 

damaging Hadrian’s Wall. 

Work to replace a water main 

near Throckley uncovered new 

information about some cunning 

defences along Hadrian’s Wall. A 

series pits found between the Wall 

and its north ditch are evidence of 

entanglements designed to impede 

and hold-up attackers and similar 



Cramlington at Shotton Surface 

Mining Site, for Banks Mining, 

made an exciting new discovery 

when they revealed an unexpected 

secular Anglo-Saxon settlement 

with a cluster of post-built halls, 

sunken floored buildings and 

ditched enclosures. The settlement 

showed a clear sequence of 

development, from an unenclosed 

settlement in the early Anglo- 

Saxon period to one of formalised 

farmsteads in separate enclosures 

by the late seventh century AD. 

This site is a very rare example 

of an isolated secular settlement 

in the area stretching between 

north Northumberland and North 

Yorkshire, and demonstrates how 

developer-funded archaeology is 

contributing to a new knowledge 

and understanding of our region. 

Anglo-Saxon settlement remains 

have also come to light in and 

around Milfield. At Woodbridge 

Farm archaeologists working for 

Tarmac Roadstone found remains 

of timber buildings suggestive of a 

small settlement; and at Whitton 

Park for Robson Design they 

found postholes of a substantial 

timber building that shows that the 

Maelmin palace complex may be 

more extensive than had previously 

been recognised. 


Throckley entanglements 

to other examples found further 

east at Byker in Newcastle. 

Work to replace a water main 

near Throckley uncovered new 

information about some cunning 

defences along Hadrian’s Wall. A 

series pits found between the Wall 

and its north ditch are evidence of 

entanglements designed to impede 

and hold-up attackers and similar 

to other examples found further 

east at Byker in Newcastle. 

Early Medieval 

In the early medieval period 

Northumbria was at the 

forefront of political, cultural and 

intellectual developments. At its 

greatest extent in the seventh 

century the kingdom of Bernicia, 

with its capital at Bamburgh, 

extended from the Forth to 

the Humber. Yet, despite the 

importance of the early medieval 

period in the region, little is known 

about its settlement archaeology. 

Archaeologists excavating near 

Indications of possible industrial 

activity and large-scale food 

processing in the 10th and 

11th centuries were discovered 

by archaeologists working in 

Heddon-on-the-Wall on behalf of 

TTH Architects/NE Plant Sales. 

Scientific analysis of environmental 

samples taken from fills in the 

(Roman) vallum ditch revealed a 

variety of seeds and plant remains 

some of which showed evidence of

logy 1990-2015 

A Saxon house at Shotton. 

Photo TWM Archaeology. 

crop processing – charred chaff and 

grains of oats, wheat and barley, 

that suggest this took place on 

a large scale. It is suspected that 

there was a large kiln or furnace in 

Heddon in the 11th century; a date 

of AD 1030-1220 was recovered 

from a single oat grain. 

Medieval 

Developer-funded archaeology has 

revealed much about the medieval 

period across Northumberland, 

especially its towns and villages 

where details of buildings, land 

division (burgage plots), rubbish 

disposal and some industrial 

practices have come to light. 

A previously unknown phase of 

occupation was found at Ancroft 

when archaeologists excavated 

a series of medieval buildings for 

Edwin Thompson & Co. They 

uncovered buildings with dwarf 

stone walls and clay capping, 

which would have supported a 

timber-frame, as well as evidence 

of a narrow alley, or street, 

running between them. In other 

parts of the county, development 

of vacant plots within and on 

the edge of villages has revealed 

medieval remains, for example at 

Cornhill-on-Tweed, Embleton and 

Alnmouth. 

Some villages are only known 

from documents, so when a new 

business park was proposed at 

Dovecote remains at 

West Hartford. Photo 

NAA. 




West Hartford, near Cramlington 

the opportunity arose to search 

for the lost village of Hartford. A 

series of investigations revealed 

substantial and extensive remains 

of a medieval rural settlement that 

included dwellings, workshops, 

enclosures and a dovecote, and 

hinted at the presence of a high 

status building nearby. Another 

excavation at nearby Shotton 

Surface Mine Site uncovered 

extensive remains of Shotton 

medieval village containing 

evidence of domestic and industrial 

activity, including a pottery kiln 

and a grain drying kiln or malting 

oven. Evidence for medieval 

industries is limited in the region 

but some small scale activities have 

been found. At North Stobswood 

extraction site, work for UK Coal 

revealed a series of fire pits across 

the site that were used for charcoal 

burning. Excavation on the Bishops 

Garage site in Corbridge found a 

corn drying kiln that may be part 

of a wider and as yet unknown 

complex, and in Rothbury All 

Lime Kiln at All Saints, Rothbury. Photo IFA. 

Saints churchyard archaeologists 

found a lime kiln. 

Development-led archaeology has 

also provided the opportunity for 

large-scale open area excavation 

in some of our towns. Excavations 

in Berwick for Terrace Hill Projects 

examined an area of street frontage 

on Marygate and discovered timber 

buildings, property boundaries and 

over 40 pits. Finds included pottery 

and organic material such as wood, 

leather, rich assemblages of fish 

and bird bones and plant matter. 

The earliest buildings, dating to 

the late 12th century, were situated 

Kiln at Bshops 

Garage. 

Photo NPA. 

on the Marygate frontage but 

had been abandoned by the 14th 

century, possibly as a result of the 

hostilities between England and 

Scotland. Later medieval buildings 

were constructed in the backplot. 

Well preserved organic remains 

have been found in other parts of 

Berwick and are a feature of the 

town’s archaeology. Excavations 

of pits at Woolmarket for Yeoman 

Design, found one with a wicker 

lining. Clues to the uses of some 

parts of Berwick have been found 

in Ravensdowne where excavation 

and documentary evidence suggest 

the west side was the town’s 

rubbish dump (Rotten Row). 

Excavations in Walkergate for the 

Berwick Workspace development 

uncovered what may be one of 

the town’s lost monastic sites, 

or perhaps a hospital or part of 

a church or even a rich secular 

building. The building had been 

demolished in the late 12th or 13th 

century and the finds included 

fragments of stained window glass 

and coins. Another lost site is the 

Carmelite Friary which may have 

been found at Governor’s Gardens 

during excavations for Lindisfarne 

Homes. 

The foundation of religious houses 

in the county from the mid-12th

logy 1990-2015 

Medieval building at Cornhill. Photo Headland Archaeology. 

century included the Dominican 

Friary at Bamburgh where work 

has allowed a more detailed 

ground plan to be reconstructed. 

At Brinkburn, excavations of the 

Augustinian Priory for Landmark 

Trust found substantial remains of 

the principal gatehouse that suggest 

the layout was very different from a 

conventional one. 

Sometimes completely unexpected 

discoveries are made such as 

when building work started on 

a vacant plot on Castle Terrace, 

Berwick and a skeleton was 

found. Archaeologists went on 

to excavate a lost 12th century 

church and well-preserved burial 

ground which lay outside the walls 

of Berwick, in the former village of 

Bondington. The church may have 

been founded as a hospital and was 

probably abandoned when villagers 

retreated inside the town walls 

during the Anglo-Scottish wars of 

the 14th century. 

Other churches and chapels, 

together with their burial grounds, 

have also disappeared and without 

developer-led archaeology would 

only be known from documentary 

evidence. For example, excavation 

of Chevington chapel, at British 

Coal Opencast’s site found an 

unusual and interesting example 

of window tracery, built on the site 

of an earlier Iron Age settlement. 

Excavations at Trinity Terrace 

in Corbridge have regularly 

exposed medieval burials from the 

graveyard of Holy Trinity Church. 

Post-medieval 

Relations between England and 

Scotland gradually improved in 

the latter part of the 16th century 

culminating with the Union of the 

Crowns in 1603. New fortifications 

had been built around Berwick but 

throughout this period another 

form of attack was fought between 

local clans, or mosstroopers, along 

the Border giving rise to defensible 

buildings called bastles. From the 

late 16th century changes started 

to take place in the organisation 

of farming as fields were enclosed 

and arable land was converted to 

pasture. New farming practices 

were adopted in the 18th century 

Wicker-lined pit in Berwick. 

Photo The Archaeological Practice. 



to increase productivity, especially 

in Glendale and lowland areas of 

the county, where model farms 

were built. The uplands were 

transformed by enclosure and 

dominated by sheep farming which 

largely replaced the practice of 

transhumance. 

The post-medieval period was a 

time of industrial development 

and growth and in the North East 

this is especially linked with coal 

mining. At Barmoor work on EDF’s 

new wind farm found the remains 

of bell pits and mine shafts up to 

22m deep. Historic pillar and stall 

mine workings were found during 

work at Shotton and Blagdon 

(Delhi) opencast coal sites, 

operated by Banks Mining. 

Many of the bastles in 

Northumberland are still in 

domestic or agricultural use and 

have been subject to various 

planning applications over the 

years, usually relating to modern 

living. Archaeological work on 

these buildings has included both 

historic building recording and 

monitoring work. Many of these 

investigations have shown the 

surprisingly limited groundworks 

involved in the construction of 

these substantial structures with 

their metre thick walls. The 

removal of later cement and 

mortar at the Golf House Bastle 

at Chesterwood uncovered two 

previously blocked original doors. 

Archaeological investigations 

across the county show that limited 

foundations appear to be a feature 

of many post-medieval buildings 

in Northumberland, with earlier, 

medieval remains still surviving 

beneath these later buildings. 

Towns and villages remained 

largely pre-industrial in character. 

While many historic towns in 

Northumberland continued 

the medieval street pattern, 

investigations along Marygate, 

Berwick-upon-Tweed and Castle 

Street, Warkworth have revealed 

medieval settlement remains, 

showing that the streets were 

widened in the post-medieval 

period. 

Brick sprung roof of septic tank in 

Berwick. Photo AOC Archaeology. 

Archaeological discoveries continue 

to challenge historic documents in 

the post-medieval period with, for 

example, the apparent evidence of 

a primitive septic tank of late 18thearly 

19th century date at 119-125 

Marygate, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 

Documentary evidence states that 

septic tanks were first patented in 

France in 1881 and introduced to 

England after 1895. 

There is a wealth of nonconformist 

chapels across Northumberland. 


Pillar and stall mining remains at Blagdon (Delhi). 

Photo TWM Archaeology.

logy 1990-2015 

Churchill graffiti at Stannington. 

Photo The Archaeological 

Practice. 

Wylam waggonway sleeper 

and chair. 

Photo TWM Archaeology. 

An assessment of the former 

Middle Meeting House on 

Chapel Street in Berwick-upon- 

Tweed concluded that it is the 

last surviving example of an 18th 

century meeting house in Berwick 

and may be the oldest of only a 

handful which survive largely 

intact in the county. Recording of 

a small gospel hall at Glanton built 

in 1904 showed it was formerly 

home to the Glanton Brethren – a 

nonconformist congregation whose 

acceptance of members from the 

Alnwick congregation resulted 

in a controversy that split the 

movement worldwide. 

The 19th century was a period of 

innovation, much of it originating 

in Northumberland and the 

North East. Waggonways were the 

precursors of the railways, which 

was shown clearly at Wylam, 

where archaeological investigation 

work on the old railway line 

revealed two parallel rows of stone 

sleeper blocks from the earlier 

waggonway which would have 

carried the iron plate-way which 

replaced the original timber rails. 

The defence of Britain in World War 

II is visible in the anti-tank traps 

and pillboxes which are still visible 

within the landscape. The more 

human element of wartime has, on 

occasion, been found during building 

recording. At St Mary’s Hospital 

Stannington, a graffiti caricature 

of Winston Churchill from 1943 

was recorded, while at Cragend 

Farm near Rothbury, WWII graffiti 

included instructions on farming 

practices in various languages, 

presumably for the instruction of 

Prisoners of War, as well as other 

graffiti left by the British forces 

guarding them. 

Post-war buildings under threat have 

also been recorded by archaeologists 

and one the biggest was the former 

Blyth Power Station, demolished in 

2003. Built by the newly nationalised 

electricity industry between 1955 and 

1966, it was one of a group of power 

stations that advanced the industry’s 

technological development. Research 

uncovered a vast archive of material 

and showed that it was an early 

example of the very large post-war 

stations built in rural settings. 

Chapel Street Meeting House, Berwick. 

Photo The Archaeological Practice. 

The work described above was carried 

out by independent archaeological 

companies and include: Alan Williams 

Archaeology, AOC Archaeology, 

Archaeological Research Services, 

Archaeological Services Durham 

University, Bamburgh Research 

Project, CFA Archaeology, Headland 

Archaeology, Ian Farmer Associates, 

Lancaster University Archaeological 

Unit, North Pennines Archaeology, 

Northern Archaeological Associates, 

Peter Ryder, Pre-Construct Archaeology, 

The Archaeological Practice, Michael 

Truman, TWM Archaeology, Tyne and 

Wear Museums Service. 

EW and KD 


New prehistoric rock art discovery a 

In the winter of 2014 an 

archaeological evaluation took 

place on land at Birney Hill, 

Ponteland. It was required by the 

Planning Service on the advice of 

the Conservation Team in order to 

help inform a planning inquiry for 

a proposed mixed-use development 

at the site. 

The proposed development site 

comprised 20 fields to the north of 

Birney Hill Farm, situated to the 

south of the outskirts of Ponteland 

(NGR NZ 1497 6992). The work 

involved the excavation of 89 

trenches in total, targeting the 

areas of greatest impact under the 

scheme. 

The majority of the proposed 

development area has been 

agricultural in character 

throughout the post-medieval 

and modern periods, with some 

surviving earthworks relating 

to medieval ridge and furrow 

cultivation. Birney Hall, which 

is located at the centre of the 

site, is a Grade II Listed Building 

constructed in the 17th or early 

18th century, but is in residential 

use and was not part of the 

proposed development 

(HER 14893). 

Prior to the fieldwork a deskbased 

assessment of the site had 

identified that there was evidence 

for prehistoric activity in the area, 

including a Bronze Age burial 

cairn to the west of the site at 

Heddon Laws Farm, located on 

top of a natural hill (HER 10867). 

Cropmarks had also been recorded 

in the wider area, which are 

indicative of prehistoric or Roman 

period settlement. 

Archaeological features were 

encountered in several trenches, 

possibly ranging in date from 

Bronze Age through to the 

medieval period. Significantly, 

a number of ring ditches were 

revealed by the work which are 

indicative of prehistoric and/or 

Roman period activity. These were 

focused in two areas of the site, 

with a particular concentration of 

features west of Birney Hall. The 

only dating evidence recovered 

was a small assemblage of first to 

second century Roman pottery and 

an Anglo-Saxon copper alloy strap 

end, although the latter could be a 

casual loss. 

The assessment of the soil samples 

from this site demonstrated that 

many of the archaeological features 

produced charred plant remains 

which are of archaeobotanicial 

interest. These remains are also 

suitable for radiocarbon dating 

in many cases, a factor which 

might be important for future 


Boulder decorated 

with prehistoric cup 

and ring markings, 

from Birney Hill. 

work considering there was 

relatively little artefactual evidence 

recovered from the site. 

Unexpectedly a large decorated 

sandstone boulder was also 

recovered from a trench north 

of Birney Hill Farm, which was 

a rare and important find. One 

face of the boulder was covered in 

cup and ring decoration, which is 

likely to be of Late Neolithic date. 

The boulder measured 1.5m x 1m 

x 0.9m, with the upper surface 

decorated with over 30 cup-marks, 

six of which had ring-marks. The

t Birney Hill, Ponteland 

Trial trenching at Birney Hill. 

boulder had sustained some plough 

damage, with linear scars running 

across the carved panel. 

When discovered, the cup and ring 

marked panel was facing north-west 

in the direction of the Simonside 

Hills. However, the boulder was 

not believed to be in its original 

location, but rather was buried 

within a natural hollow in the clay 

subsoil, possibly as a result of field 

clearance. No other archaeological 

finds or features were associated 

with the boulder and it appears to 

be unrelated to the ring ditches, 

which were located some distance 

to the north and south. 

Decorated boulders were often 

incorporated into Bronze Age 

monuments, and it has been 

speculated that this example could 

have been part of a now-destroyed 

Bronze Age burial monument. 

However, the boulder could also 

have been a free-standing feature. 

Similar free-standing examples 

are known from elsewhere in 

Northumberland and Cumbria, 

including the Tortie Stone at 

Hallbankgate, near Brampton. 

We may never know the original 

location of the decorated boulder, 

unless further archaeological work 

is undertaken in the surrounding 

landscape. The find is now on 

display in the Great North Museum. 

This work was funded by Lugano 

Group and undertaken by Wardell 

Armstrong Archaeology. 

Martin Railton 

Wardell Armstrong Archaeology 


Grazing on Ha’Hill, Morpeth 

Ha’ Hill in Morpeth is an 11th 

century motte and bailey castle. 

Located in the midst of Carlisle 

Park, it is owned and managed by 

Northumberland County Council 

and Active Northumberland. 

The hill has overseen the 

development of Morpeth as a 

thriving and popular market town, 

the uprooting of market gardens 

to create the park in time for its 

opening in 1929, the installation 

of the William Turner Garden 

in 2001, and was probably even 

traversed by Turner himself in the 

early 1500s. 

But in our current health and 

safety conscious times it was 

proving a bit of a handful to 

maintain as the ‘grassy mound’ 

expected of mottes and baileys. 

The annual strimming of the 

motte became a much dreaded 

maintenance task, with rabbit 

burrows, badger setts and uneven 

ground, created by grazers of times 

gone by, invisible under the dense 

carpet of rosebay willowherb, 

brambles and blackthorn scrub. 

Contractors brought in to do the 

job soon put up their prices, park 

gardeners’ morale slumped and 

park managers furrowed their 

brows each summer when the hill 

needed maintenance. 

Then, in 2012, during a meeting of 

green space managers from around 

the North East there was a moment 

of epiphany, like the sun rising over 

the hill. The idea to use sheep to 

graze the hill was suggested and 

like all things that are meant to be, 

everything fell neatly into place to 

make it happen. 

The sheep are Shetlands and 

are provided by Flexigraze, an 

innovative social enterprise, 


specialising in grazing nature 

reserves and important grasslands 

throughout North East England. 

Flexigraze is not-for-profit, 

reinvesting any profits back into 

local conservation grazing. If you’re 

interested in finding out more their 

website is http://flexigraze.org.uk. 

Having the sheep provided 

by Flexigraze is what makes 

grazing possible at Carlisle Park. 

All requirements for shearing, 

dipping, licencing and movement 

are covered by Flexigraze for a 

very reasonable fee and annual 

membership of the scheme. Daily 

care of the sheep consists of feeding 

and counting, which is done by 

the Carlisle Park gardeners, any 

problems are reported to Flexigraze 

and are addressed promptly. 

The funding to provide the 

stock fencing for the sheep was 

provided by Sita Trust through 

the Growing Wild project that 

saw the establishment of wild 

flower meadows across south east 

Northumberland on land that 

was, mostly, previously managed 

as amenity grassland. Being part of 

the Growing Wild project means 

we have monitored the flora on 

the hill, which has changed from 

the dominant species listed earlier,

Sheep grazing on Ha’Hill, Morpeth. 

to predominantly grass with a 

spectacular display of foxgloves in 

late spring. Creeping thistle and 

nettle have increased in places, 

but there is now not a rosebay 

willowherb or blackthorn sapling to 

be seen. I’ll leave you to consider 

the pros and cons of changing the 

dominant plant species – foxgloves 

are excellent for bees and rosebay 

willowherb can support up to 19 

species of moth and butterfly. 

The sheep have had an inevitable 

effect on the ground of the 

hill, which is not desirable for 

Scheduled Ancient Monument 

management. A pre-existing gully, 

probably created by badgers and 

present for decades was efficiently 

widened and deepened by the 

sheep as they created their own 

earth ledges to rest on. We have 

filled this abode with brash and 

branches from hawthorn to allow 

it to regenerate naturally and the 

sheep have created a new set of 

ledges further round the hill. I 

suspect this will be a bit of a process 

of eviction and re-establishment in 

future grazing seasons. 

And possibly the most important 

thing of all, have the sheep been 

accepted by visitors to the park? 

After much scepticism and doubt 

that they would be safe on the hill, 

the sheep have now worked for 

three successful summers and are 

much loved by park staff and visitors 

alike. They provide an interesting 

attraction for visitors, although we 

discourage feeding and encourage 

dogs on leads, and the hill provides 

enough space for the sheep to 

wander off if they feel like it. 

If you would like to see the sheep 

on the hill, the sheep are here from 

around June to November annually. 

Emma Evans 


Flodden Hill 2013-15 


Despite the absence through 

illness of Flodden 500 project’s 

archaeological director, Chris 

Burgess, the final season of 

excavation on Flodden Hill 

proceeded in 2015 as had been 

planned. This, and the 2012- 

14 seasons, are summarised 

here and previous reports can 

be found in Archaeology in 

Northumberland 20. 

The ‘Scottish Camp’/inner 

rectilinear enclosure 

On the southern rampart the 

‘parapet wall’ was re-examined in 

2015 and shown to be founded at a 

lower level than previously thought 

and formed a central division 

within the rampart. It cut through 

and revetted the up-cast subsoil 

forming the outer side of the bank 

while its inner face was butted by 

dark silty stony soils overlying a low 

inner revetment and containing 

two Iron Age pot sherds. A similar 

sequence was seen in a new trench 

to the east, though here the inner 

rampart revetment had been 

robbed – two Border Breweries Ltd 

bottles (1899-1924) may have been 

associated with this activity; other 

finds included Iron Age pottery 

and two utilised stones. 

Excavation of the east-facing 

entrance continued in 2012-13 and 

revealed a partly rock-cut ‘hollow 

way’ approaching the entrance to 

the enclosure that was defined by 

a dry-stone revetment standing 

two courses high in places. The 

southern revetment ran westward 

through the entrance and was 

founded on a ledge cut into the 

natural rock but evidence of a 

possible earlier timber phase was 

found with the discovery of a 

post-socket in the ledge east of the 

surviving revetment. The surface 

of the ‘hollow way’ was patched 

with small cobbling between 

upstands of bedrock which had a 

worn appearance, which suggests 

it had been in use longer than the 

Scottish army’s occupation of the 

hill in 1513. No evidence of a ditch 

or ditch terminals was found. 

The northern revetment was more 

complex. On the north side, the 

entrance was first narrowed and 

subsequently completely blocked 

with rubble and later, a low stony 

bank was constructed across the 

inner enclosure, running roughly 

eastwards through the middle 

of the blocked entranceway; no 

dating evidence was found for 

these activities. The revetments 

both supported rampart terminals 

which survived as a mass of small 

rubble. 

At the north-east angle, excavation 

in 2012 of a possible 1513 

corner ‘bastion’ disproved this 

interpretation. A little further east 

a north-south aligned revetment 

of angular rubble was exposed, up 

to three courses high, retaining a 

bank of fractured andesite and clay. 

Between this and the enclosure 

rampart the natural ground profile 

dipped markedly, with dark silty 

stony soils filling the hollow of 

what may have been a ditch and 

a similar feature was noted to the 

south. 

Excavation in 2013 close to the 

north-east corner of the enclosure 

identified a culvert-like feature 

running east-west and cutting 

the rampart. It comprised large, 

flattish, side stones and an in-situ 

capstone and further side stones 

were revealed in 2014. The side 

stones ran westward through the 

rampart for about 2.30m, seeming 

to blend into a stone revetment 

Approach to eastern 

entrance in Trench 3 

showing north and 

south revetments and 

track surfacing with 

volunteer digger!

The southern rampart 

in Trench 2: extreme 

left-inner revetment; centre 

– ‘parapet wall’; extreme 

right – outer revetment. 

which was possibly equivalent to 

the ‘parapet’ wall. Two smaller 

culvert-like features appear to join, 

or branch from, the first but the 

date and function of these remains 

uncertain. They do not appear to 

have been flues as, though some 

slag-like material was recovered 

from one, there were no signs of 

direct heat in the vicinity and 

little charcoal and are too small 

to be souterrains. Possibly they are 

post-medieval artificial fox-earths, 

the estate having once been active 

hunting territory, and there are 

distinct similarities between the 

Flodden Hill features and published 

excavated examples. 

Work on the south-west side 

of the Hill 

Two trenches were dug in 2014 to 

examine linear anomalies revealed 

by geophysics. Excavation revealed 

one anomaly corresponded 

closely to a ‘rumbler’ field drain 

but a second more substantial 

anomaly appeared to coincide 

with the ploughed out inner ditch 

of a double-ditched rectilinear 

enclosure, visible on aerial 

photographs and apparently seen 

by MacLauchlan in about 1852. 

Though the form suggests an Iron 

Age/Romano-British date, it is 

conceivable that an earthwork 

which would have been upstanding 

in 1513 might yield evidence 

for re-use by the Scottish army. 

Excavation revealed a deep plough 

soil covering the southern edge 

of a cut running north-east by 

south-west filled with layers of 

stony silt and clay soils which 

suggest the fill of a substantial 

feature, perhaps a ditch. The only 

finds were fragments of Iron Age 

pottery and work was abandoned 

after torrential rain left this area 

too waterlogged for meaningful 

excavation. 

In 2014 a section was also 

cut across a low, spread, 

embankment running west from 

the ‘Scottish Camp’, apparently 

the ‘line of entrenchment’ which 

MacLauchlan (1863) saw as 

connecting two 1513 redoubts. 

This was a turf-built dyke, ditched 

on both sides. On the south side, 

the subsoil was heavily charcoalflecked 

but on the north and below 

the bank no charcoal was visible; 

there were no associated finds. 

Mindful of the firing of rubbish in 

the Scots’ camp on the morning of 

the battle, samples of charcoal from 

the southern ground surface were 

taken for radiocarbon dating. The 

calibrated results (SUERC-66034 

and 66035) however gave dates 

of 3794 –3693BC and 1437- 

1296BC, spanning the Neolithic to 

early Bronze Age! This is further 

indication of the time-depth of the 

Flodden landscape. 

John Nolan 

Northern Counties 

Archaeological Services 

Border Brewery Codd bottle 

from Trench 16. 


Barmoor Wind Farm 


Mine shaft exposed 

in plan. 

© CFA Archaeology Ltd.

Wind turbine foundation excavation 

showing the depth to the top of the 

coal seam. 

© CFA Archaeology Ltd. 

Barmoor Wind Farm lies to the west 

of Lowick and consists of six turbines 

and associated infrastructure. It 

was the subject of an archaeological 

watching brief during construction 

which began in 2014. 

The Ordnance Survey First Edition 

map of 1860 depicts ‘old workings’ 

and an ‘old coal pit’ close to the 

development area to the south-west 

of Southmoor Steading, as well as 

a series of tracks criss-crossing the 

area; the old workings and pits are 

also visible on satellite imagery 

and on the ground. The geological 

record shows that sporadic coalbearing 

strata are present within the 

development area. Drift mining is 

also known to have occurred near 

the development site, with traces of 

workings visible adjacent to some of 

the wind farm access tracks. 

Previous work by CFA Archaeology 

in 2006 identified and recorded 

mining remains and further remains 

were found in the 2014 watching 

brief. 

The watching brief identified 

extensive mining remains in the 

form of bell pits, mine shafts and 

related features, with particular 

concentrations seen in two locations. 

The bell pits are likely to be the 

earliest mining features and some 

may have been exploratory in nature. 

The shafts represent a second phase 

of deeper coal extraction and survive 

as oval and sub-oval features rich 

in shale and coal fragments. They 

probably contained timber linings 

to maintain their sections to allow 

a greater working depth. Coal was 

Surface remains of a 

bell pit or mine shaft in 

proximity to the wind 

farm. 

© CFA Archaeology 

Ltd. 

normally winched out by hand using a 

windlass. Unfortunately, the trackways 

serving the old workings, and 

illustrated on the historic maps, have 

left no archaeological trace. 

The coal seam in this area lies close to 

the surface and the excavation work 

provided information on its depth with 

one shaft measuring 22 metres deep. 

The area also contains evidence of 

prehistoric activity in the vicinity of 

the wind farm, in the form of surface 

finds of flint (HER 1973 & 3692) 

and a bronze axe (HER 1951). The 

discovery of a small pit containing 

prehistoric pottery during the 2006 

evaluation raised the possibility that 

further prehistoric archaeological 

features and finds might be made, 

although unfortunately nothing 

definitive was recorded in the 

watching brief. 

The results of the evaluation and 

watching brief, along with the general 

archaeological background of the 

area, demonstrate that Bar Moor, 

South Moor and the surrounding area 

are particularly rich in post-medieval 

mining remains of a type known as 

bell pits. They were part of a wider 

post-medieval industrial landscape 

across South Moor for the extraction 

of coal and clay. 

This work was funded by EDF Energy 

Renewables and undertaken by CFA 

Archaeology. It was required by the 

Planning Service on the advice of the 

Conservation Team. 

Melanie Johnson 

CFA Archaeology Ltd 


Iron Age Settlement at St George’s 


A detailed assessment of land 

proposed for development at St 

George’s Hospital, Morpeth, was 

commissioned during the winter of 

2013 and 2014. The archaeological 

work initially consisted of a 

geophysical survey which was 

conducted in the fields south of 

the former Victorian psychiatric 

hospital. The survey revealed a 

sub-rectangular linear anomaly, 

interpreted as a ditched enclosure 

in the south-western area of 

the site. The probable ditched 

enclosure measured 115m x 40m 

and upon further inspection of the 

survey results, numerous subcircular 

features were identified 

inside the enclosure’s interior. The 

internal features were interpreted 

as roundhouse remains, internal 

livestock enclosures and associated 

storage, or waste, pits. 

Consequently, a programme 

of archaeological evaluation 

trenching took place during winter 

2014 in order to investigate and 

further characterise the anomalies 

identified during the geophysical 

survey. Thirty-four trenches were 

excavated, including eight trenches 

specifically targeted across the 

enclosure ditch and the subcircular 

anomalies situated within 

the settlement interior. Four of 

these revealed archaeological 

features confirming the presence 

of the ditched enclosure. The 

enclosure is situated on a plateau 

on a prominent bluff overlooking 

the river Wansbeck that slopes 

off steeply on its southern and 

western sides. It was noted that 

the westernmost enclosure ditches, 

overlooking the sharp slopes, 

were narrower by an average 

0.4m than the eastern ‘landward’ 

ditches. The relative width of 

the ditches suggested that the 

prehistoric enclosure would have 

been approached from the north 

and east sides and that access from 

the south and west would be less 

desirable due to the steep incline. 

The greater width displayed by the 

0 5 

25m 

Plan of excavated features at St George’s Hospital, Morpeth. 

Drawn by ARS. 

A fragment of Grooved Ware pottery recovered from a possible 

Late Neolithic drainage gully. Photo: ARS. 

eastern ditches was interpreted as a 

deliberate attempt to form a more 

substantial and impressive barrier to 

this approach. 

The location of roundhouse drip 

gullies and probable livestock 

enclosure ditches were confirmed 

within the enclosure interior and 

matched the position of anomalies 

identified during the geophysical 

survey. Furthermore, reference to 

the survey results also indicated that 

additional sub-circular features, 

possibly highlighting the location of 

pits or domestic structures, remain 

buried within both the interior and 

exterior of the enclosure. 

The form of the St George’s 

enclosure and the associated 

internal features are considered 

characteristic of indigenous 

rural settlements situated on the 

N

Hospital, Morpeth 

The south-western extent of the later prehistoric rectangular enclosure clearly 

displaying parallel ditches potentially divided by an earthen bank. Photo: ARS. 

An Early Neolithic oval shaped enclosure situated at the extreme south-west 

of the site on a promontory overlooking the River Wansbeck and Morpeth town 

centre. Photo: ARS. 

south-eastern Northumberland 

coastal plain during the late Iron 

Age and early Roman period. 

The traditional view, proposed 

by George Jobey during the 

1960s and 1970s, was that the 

rectilinear enclosures were Iron 

Age rural settlements which later 

thrived in the hinterlands north of 

Hadrian’s Wall during the second 

century AD. However, recent 

developer-funded archaeological 

excavation of rectilinear enclosures 

at Blagdon Park, East Brunton, 

West Brunton and the nearby 

site at Pegswood Moor have since 

provided radiocarbon dates which 

have changed this understanding. 

The radiocarbon dates indicate 

that they represent the final stage 

in the development of prehistoric 

settlements, some of which initially 

developed during the Bronze Age, 

when they were abruptly abandoned 

at a date broadly contemporaneous 

with the construction of Hadrian’s 

Wall (see Nick Hodgson et al The 

Iron Age on the Northumberland 

Coastal Plain: Excavations in 

advance of development 2002- 

2010, for more information). It 

is unclear if the Roman military 

deliberately removed the local 

population from the hinterlands 

immediately north of the wall, or 

if traditional tribal farming and 

trading had become so heavily 

disrupted by Roman influence that 

continued settlement was rendered 

unsustainable. Nevertheless these 

findings are a significant step 

forward in our understanding of 

the impact of Hadrian’s Wall on 

the surrounding population and 

opens avenues for future research 

into the relationships governing 

interactions between the occupying 

Roman forces and the indigenous 

population. 

An archaeological excavation was 

conducted at St George’s Hospital 

in autumn 2015 and analysis of 

the results is underway; it is hoped 

that further information can be 

attained from the site which will 

contribute towards understanding 

prehistoric settlement within the 

Northumbrian coastal plain, and 

particularly of the pre-enclosure 

phases of settlement. 

This work was funded by Linden 

Homes Ltd and undertaken by 

Archaeological Research Services. 

It was required by the Planning 

Service on the advice of the 


Rupert Lotherington 

Archaeological Research Services 

Ltd 

Acknowledgements 

Archaeological Research Services Ltd 

would like to thank Linden Homes Ltd 

for the kind support they have provided 

throughout the course of the St George’s 

Hospital project. 

References 

Hodgson, N, McKelvey J and Muncaster, 

W, 2012. The Iron Age on the Northumberland 

Coastal Plain: Excavations in 

advance of development 2002-2010. 

Newcastle upon Tyne: Tyne & Wear 

Archives & Museums and the Arbeia Society. 

Lotherington, R, 2014. An Archaeological 

Evaluation at St George’s Hospital, 

Morpeth,Northumberland. ARS Report 

No. 2015/14. Unpublished Report 


A NU Young Archaeologists 

Club for the uplands.... 


In April 2014 the Northumberland 

Uplands and North Pennines 

branch of the National Young 

Archaeologists Club (YAC) was 

launched at Walltown Quarry in 

the Northumberland National 

Park. The branch was established 

following discussions between Paul 

Frodsham (then of North Pennines 

AONB Partnership) and Chris Jones 

of the National Park. Established 

under the auspices of the AONB’s 

Altogether Archaeology project, the 

process of setting up the branch from 

scratch took several months of form 

filling and child protection training 

for Branch Leaders and Assistants 

by National Park Community 

Archaeologists Gemma Stewart and 

Krissy Moore. 

The YAC branch meets on the 

third Saturday of the month for a 

minimum of six sessions per year, 

with sessions taking place at a 

variety of locations across the North 

Pennines and Northumberland 

National Park. In 2014 sessions 

included flint knapping at Simonside 

and ancient pottery in Rothbury, lead 

mining at Killhope and World War 

One at Alston. Members were also 

given the opportunity to join in the 

Altogether Archaeology excavations 

at St Botolph’s Chapel, Frosterley. 

The 2015 programme has included 

Dark Skies at Once Brewed, 

Medieval Crime and Punishment 

at Hexham Gaol and joining the 

Flodden branch of the YAC for their 

annual “Big Dig”. 

The YAC draws members from 

across the North Pennines and 

Northumberland National Park 

including Alston, Greenhead, 

Harbottle and Otterburn as well as 

from south-east Northumberland. 

The need for the YAC was 

specifically identified to provide 

opportunities for children and 

families in rural areas. Other YACs 

exist in Newcastle, Kendal and in 

north Northumberland, many of 

YAC members at work. © Chris Jones NNPA. 

which are oversubscribed, with a 

waiting list for new members. The 

long term benefits of the YAC are 

yet to reveal themselves at this early 

stage, but clearly there are significant 

opportunities for children to engage 

with archaeology across the core 

geographic area which would not 

have happened otherwise. 

Feedback from individual sessions 

has been extremely positive (both 

from parents and children). The 

new YAC has worked with local 

archaeologists, other YACs and local 

tourist attractions and providers, 

thus making a difference to a number 

of people. Through careful session 

planning and rigorous adherence 

to child protection policy and best 

practice, each child has an enjoyable, 

informative learning and fun 

experience. It is very early days but it 

is hoped that these experiences will 

enable YAC children to thrive. 

Sessions will be on the third Saturday 

of the month through 2016. 

Attendance at each session is limited, 

but expressions of interest from 

parents are welcome. Contact Chris 

Jones (chris.jones@nnpa.org.uk), 

for further details. Or visit the YAC 

website http://www.yac-uk.org/ . 

Chris Jones 

Northumberland National Park

Volunteers working at Low Hauxley. 

Rescued from the Sea 

– new book reveals the full story 

A popular book providing a 

summary account of the rescue 

excavations at Low Hauxley 

from an archaeologist’s firsthand 

perspective has been 

published. Rescued from the Sea. 

An Archaeologist’s Tale is 64 pages 

in length and has full colour 

throughout with 78 beautifully 

produced images. With sea level 

rise accelerating, archaeologists 

are in a race against time to record 

ancient remains eroding from our 

shores before they are destroyed 

by the sea. This accessible book 

documents a remarkable story 

of how a prehistoric site perched 

on a cliff edge was discovered 

and excavated by professional 

archaeologists with the help of 

the local community. The results 

from this excavation have made 

an important contribution to 

our national story, as well as for 

Northumberland, and with an 

abundance of illustrations this book 

provides a highly visual record of 

this exciting work. This is a story of 

discovery, persistence and passion 

in which many hundreds of people 

took part. Relive this remarkable 

With sea level rise accelerating, archaeologists are in a race against time to 

excavation record through ancient remains eroding the from our shores pages before they are of destroyed 

by the sea. This accessible book documents a remarkable story of how 

a prehistoric site perched on a cliff edge was discovered and excavated by 

professional archaeologists with the help of the local community. The results of 

this excavation have made an important contribution to our national story, as 

this book and 

well as for 

let 

Northumberland, 

the 

and with 

story 

an abundance of 

unfold 

illustrations this book 

provides a highly visual record of this exciting work. This is a story of discovery, 

persistence and passion in which many hundreds of people took part. Relive 

this remarkable excavation through the pages of this book and let the story 

just as it did unfold for just as it did for the excavators. 

It can be purchased direct from 

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www.nwt.org.uk/shop/product/ 

rescued-sea-archaeologists-tale 

RESCUED FROM THE SEA - AN ARCHAEOLOGIST’S TALE CLIVE WADDINGTON 

RESCUED FROM THE SEA 

An Archaeologist’s Tale 

Clive Waddington 


Investigations at the Premonstraten 


Several phases of archaeological 

investigation were carried out in 

advance of, and during, groundworks 

associated with the redevelopment 

of The Lord Crewe Arms by the 

Lord Crewe Charity on the site of 

the medieval abbey of Blanchland 

in south Northumberland. It was 

required by the Planning Service 

on the advice of the Conservation 

Team and also required scheduled 

monument consent. The fieldwork 

comprised assessment, evaluation 

excavations in March and June 2013, 

as well as historic buildings recording 

and monitoring work. 

Although some evidence points to the 

possibility of an earlier ecclesiastical 

foundation at Blanchland, the 

documented abbey was founded for 

an abbot and twelve canons by Walter 

de Bolbec in 1165. From the early 

14th century, the wars with Scotland, 

followed by the Black Death, reduced 

the abbey to an impoverished state 

and in the period 1478-1500 surviving 

evidence from Visitations shows that 

the abbey remained poor; numbers 

fell to eight, of which three or four 

would have been living away to serve 

as vicars of the parishes to which the 

abbey owned the patronage – Bywell, 

St Andrew, Heddon-on-the-Wall 

and Kirkharle. The abbey buildings 

were in poor condition, especially the 

chapter house and in 1539 the Abbey 

was finally dissolved when there was 

an abbot, sub-prior, five canons and 

two novices. 

In 1545 William Farewell purchased 

Blanchland and by the early 17th 

century the estate had passed by 

marriage into the Forster family. In 

1704, following the death of the 

last heir of the Forsters, Nathaniel 

Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham, 

purchased the family estates including 

Blanchland and Bamburgh. On the 

death of Lord Crewe in 1721, the 

Blanchland and Bamburgh Estates 

were left to the Trustees of the Lord 

Crewe Estate, with which Blanchland 

remains. In 1747 John Wesley 

commented that ‘the little town…is 

little more than a heap of ruins,’ but 

in 1752, when Blanchland was made 

into a separate parish, the Trustees 

created the present church from the 

ruins of its monastic predecessor. The 

general remodelling of the village 

to its present form took place in the 

later 18th or early 19th century, to 

the extent that in 1828 Archdeacon 

Singleton found the village ‘…the 

very gem and emerald of the mining 

district.’ 

The principal buildings included in 

the investigations reported here are 

the Abbey Church and the West 

and South Ranges of the Monastic 

Buildings. The Premonstratensian 

church was of an unusual and 

asymmetric plan, a long and narrow 

nave and chancel with a north 

transept that had a two-bay aisle on 

its east side and, uniquely, a tower at 

its north end. The present church is 

a 1752 reconstruction incorporating 

parts of the medieval chancel and 

transept, as well as the virtually intact 

tower. The only other above-ground 

remnant of the church is the western 

part of the south wall of the nave, 

partly incorporated in the Abbot’s 

Tower of the Lord Crewe Arms. 

Premonstratensian houses as a rule 

show no distinctive variations on the 

standard medieval conventual plan, 

so there is every reason to believe that 

the monastic buildings at Blanchland 

followed the usual pattern of a chapter 

house and dorter (dormitory) in the 

east range, a frater (refectory) on 

the south, probably with a kitchen 

attached at its west end, and a guest 

house and possibly abbot’s lodging 

on the west. Blanchland is virtually 

unique in that the buildings of the 

village perpetuate the ground plan 

of the medieval monastery. The 

present Lord Crewe Arms is an L-plan 

structure representing the western 

(Main Block) and southern (Cottages) 

cloister ranges; to the south and west 

of this the ‘Square’ (again L-plan) 

appears to be the Abbey’s outer court, 

incorporating substantial medieval 

structural remains. 

It is clear that the West Range was 

largely rebuilt in two phases during 

the 18th century. The reconstruction 

of the South Range may have come 

later still, and could have been part 

of the 1813-18 works when many of 

the houses in the village may have 

been remodelled, although the thicker 

walls are probably medieval. The East 

Range was probably removed in or 

before the remodelling of the 18th 

century. 

A total of six evaluation trenches 

were excavated in March 2013 within 

the Scheduled part of the site, with 

an additional one adjacent to it, in 

order to investigate the route of a 

proposed service trench (marked in 

blue on the plan). Work revealed 

a considerable number and variety 

of service pathways through the 

development area, principally drains. 

Walls of probable medieval origin were 

uncovered alongside and running 

parallel with the present boundary 

wall along the south side of the 

cloister and at two points branching 

at right angles from it. The latter 

conform to the position of the west

sian Abbey of Blanchland 

Chapter House plan. 

Chapter House from the east. 

(front) and east (rear) walls of the 

former East Range. The only other 

remains of significance uncovered 

were those of a flagged surface in 

the south-west corner of the cloister, 

adjacent to the present main rear 

entrance to the Lord Crewe Arms, 

but the presence of live drains there 

prevented full excavation. 

Further work in June 2013 saw the 

extension of Trenches 3 and 4. The 

continuation northwards of the west 

wall of the East Range was observed in 

Trench 3. A possible cobbled surface 

was found on the west (external) side 

of the west wall at a depth of some 

1.2 metres below a deposit of rubble, 

rich in mortar and render - the latter 

presumably eroded from the walls of 

the East Range – within which was 

a small number of medieval glass 

sherds. East of the wall (i.e. inside 

the East Range) bordering the north 

side of the service trench cut was a 

wall, interpreted as the north face 

of a cross-wall, extending eastwards 

across the building. In Trench 4, 

further excavation revealed the 

continuation of the east wall of the 

East Range, with, on its west side, 

a surface of fragmentary flagstones, 

interpreted as an under-floor for 

stone flags. Above this was a deposit 

of rubble, rich in mortar and render; 

the latter presumably eroded from 

the walls of the East Range, within 

which was a considerable deposit 

of broken medieval glass of likely 

13th century origin. The virtual 

absence of lead from the deposit 

leads to the conclusion that it is a 

destruction deposit associated with 

the Dissolution. 

In addition to the formal excavations, 

several phases of watching brief were 

carried out to the rear of the Lord 

Crewe Hotel. Groundworks on the 

former tennis courts and east (lower) 

lawned garden revealed a burnt, oval 

bowl-shaped depression containing 

an ingot of lead or pewter, probably 

the product of in situ melting of 

material robbed from the monastery 

after the Dissolution. Monitoring 

work during the excavation of service 

trenches on the lawned gardens 

produced no significant results, but 

the monitoring of landscaping work 

Excavations of the east wall of 

the East Range. 


Investigations at the Premonstratensian 

Abbey of Blanchland 

Plan of investigations. 


on the middle lawned garden revealed 

walls of the Chapter House at a very 

shallow depth. The exposed remains 

comprised a rectangular structure, 

7.59 m N-S by 5.49 m, with the west 

wall absent save for two pier bases, 

indicating an arched opening. In the 

north-east and south-east corners of 

the structure were revealed part of the 

stone benches which would originally 

have been set along the north, east 

and south walls. 

The fieldwork carried out in 2012- 

14 is the first to have recorded the 

character and state of survival of the 

walls of the East Range and Chapter 

House of the medieval Blanchland 

Abbey, all surviving remains of 

which are regarded as of national 

importance. The remains of the 

Chapter House survive particularly 

well; those of the East Range, while 

surviving less well and possibly 

overlain by later phases of building, 

nevertheless retain traces of medieval 

floor surfaces which enhance their 

importance. Other remains, notably 

of surfaces and east-west walls along 

the south side of the former cloister, 

are more difficult to interpret, but 

are likely to be associated with the 

medieval cloistral walk. With regards 

to artefacts uncovered in association 

with the walls of the East and South 

Ranges, little of significance was found 

except for architectural fragments 

and window glass. With respect to 

the latter, the dense concentration 

of medieval painted glass partiallyexcavated 

in Trench 4 is of 

considerable importance in extending 

the repertoire of geometric grisaille 

design types for the north of England. 

Richard Carlton 

The Archaeological Practice

Medieval Shotton 

Additional work at Shotton Triangle 

has revealed more of Shotton 

medieval village, near Cramlington. It 

was first investigated in 2008 during 

excavations of Shotton Surface 

Mine, which led to the discovery 

of an Anglo-Saxon settlement that 

may be a precursor to the village (see 

Archaeology in Northumberland 21) 

as well as prehistoric boundaries and 

settlement activity. 

Previous Work 

Today, Shotton village is considerably 

smaller than its medieval counterpart, 

which documents show had 30 

tenements in 1325. 

The excavations in 2008 revealed 

that medieval Shotton had a two 

row village layout, consisting of a 

wide open space, or green, flanked by 

two rows of tofts (enclosures within 

which individual farms commonly 

stood). A rare example of a pottery 

kiln was discovered in the south 

row of tofts and pottery evidence 

showed the eastern end of the village 

was occupied from the late 12th 

century until it contracted in the 

mid-14th century. Another oven or 

kiln was found north of the present 

village, which supports documentary 

evidence that associates potters with 

the village over several generations. 

Geophysical survey 

and evaluation 

In 2013, a proposed extension to 

the mine workings presented the 

opportunity for further investigations 

of the medieval village using 

geophysical survey and evaluation 

trenching. The survey identified 

magnetic anomalies associated with 

the south row of village tofts. Whilst 

the individual tofts themselves 

were not clearly distinguished, their 

southern limit could be broadly 

followed, particularly at the eastern 

end where a well-defined linear 

anomaly marked their limit. 

A large area of magnetic disturbance 

within the tofts suggests another 

Fragment of Shotton Ware 

pottery vessel. 

pottery kiln, with anomalies that 

may represent chambers of a kiln and 

associated works. However, this lay 

beyond the area of proposed mine 

workings and was not investigated 

further. Elsewhere, evidence for a 

number of boundary features was 

found: to the south a former postmedieval 

field boundary and trackway 

as well as a feature possibly predating 

ridge and furrow cultivation; and to 

the west likely boundary ditches of 

possible medieval or prehistoric origin. 

Trenches were excavated to test the 

results of the geophysical survey and 

establish if significant archaeology 

occurred in areas of the site affected 

by the proposed mining. 

Three principal areas of 

archaeological interest 

were identified: 

1. South-eastern part of the medieval 

village: excavated features included, 

a ditch that appears to represent a 

rear toft boundary and other features 

of medieval date. Pottery associated 

with these features shows them to 

date from the same period of activity 

associated with the rest of the 

medieval village. 

2. Western end of the medieval 

village: the boundaries identified 

by geophysical survey revealed the 

hitherto unknown western extent 

of the village. Some features suggest 

settlement activity, whilst the 

presence of medieval plough furrows 

beyond the western ditch suggests it 

represents the limit of more intensive 

activity associated with the village. 

3. Undated features and watercourse: 

two undated gullies found relatively 

close to the Anglo-Saxon settlement 

may represent peripheral features 

associated with it. 

Discussion 

Although the remains at the western 

end of the village lie within the 

projected north row of tofts, these 

were not encountered and the 

effect of local topography upon the 

earlier village layout is unclear. It is 

possible that the plots represented 

by the boundaries were focused 

along another axis, such as a possible 

medieval precursor to Shotton Lane. 

At present, with only a small portion 

exposed of the western end of the 

village, questions remain as to how 

this new evidence fits within the 

medieval village layout, which only 

further investigation will illuminate. 

Archaeological evidence from the 

evaluation trenches consisted of 

a series of gullies or ditches with 

no structural evidence. This is 

not necessarily indicative of their 

absence but could reflect the limited 

archaeological intervention and the 

paucity of survival of such remains at 

the site. Indeed very few structures 

survived within the fully exposed tofts 

at the Site 1 excavation. 

Sherds of pottery from the west 

end of the village belonged to 

a single jar of Shotton Ware, 

probably manufactured in the 

village in the late 12th to late 13th 

century. Although the geophysical 

survey suggests that no additional 

undiscovered kilns lie within the 

western area, the presence of a lump 

of slag raises the possibility that, like 

the eastern end of the village, the 

western end may also have been host 

to industrial activity. 

This work was funded by Banks 

Mining and undertaken by AD 

Archaeology. It was required by the 

Planning Service on the advice of the 


Warren Muncaster 

AD Archaeology 


Did Bamburgh shipwreck inspire 

first coastguards? 


A large Spring tide in 2013 partially 

exposed a shipwreck on the beach 

below Bamburgh Castle. Bamburgh 

residents have reported that this 

wreck appears sporadically with 

many remembering playing on it as 

children in the 1960s. 

This time however Maritime 

Archaeology Sea Trust (MAST) 

archaeologists Jessica Berry 

and Kevin Stratford, together 

with local archaeologists and 

volunteers, took the opportunity 

to conduct an extensive survey 

including dendrochronology. The 

work was funded through a grant 

from the Northumberland Coast 

Area of Outstanding Natural 

Beauty Partnership’s Sustainable 

Development Fund. 

The shipwreck was in the intertidal 

zone to the east of Bamburgh Castle 

and was only exposed for roughly 

one hour either side of low-water 

slack. The site itself sits within its 

own scour which, along with the 

tidal conditions, meant it was never 

completely dry. The wreck appeared 

to contain the exposed remains of 

the port side of a wooden sailing 

vessel lying on its starboard side 

with its stern inshore. The exposed 

section of the wreck consisted of 

the hull structure of the port side 

and the exposed deck beams suggest 

the possible survival of decks below 

the sand. 

Excitingly, the dendrochronology 

survey yielded a terminus post 

quem date of 1768 – meaning 

that the timber in question 

was felled in or after 1768. The 

dendrochronological analysis, which 

was conducted by Dr Roderick Bale 

of University of Wales Trinity Saint 

David also established that the 

timber originates from the East of 

England making the wreck British. 

The date of 1768 is significant as 

it means that the ship potentially 

sailed along the east coast while 

Dr Sharp, one of the trustees of 

the Crewe Trust, was in residence 

at Bamburgh Castle. Dr Sharp 

was so concerned for sailors in 

the treacherous waters around 

Bamburgh that in 1781 he set 

up what is recognised as the first 

coastguard system in the world. The 

first coastguard at Bamburgh did 

not only warn ships of the coastline 

but also provided refuge at the 

castle for shipwrecked sailors, stored 

their cargo and buried the dead. 

This remarkable survival on the 

beach at Bamburgh is not only 

extremely rare in terms of the 

extent of the survival but also 

because it could provide a direct 

link to the work of Dr Sharp. 

Historic England recognised the 

national importance of the wreck 

site and added it to the National 

Heritage List as a Scheduled 

Monument in 2014 (https://www. 

historicengland.org.uk/listing/thelist/list-entry/1418570). 

It is hoped 

that further research of historical 

maritime documents might 

eventually reveal the identity of 

the ship. 

A massive tidal surge in late 2013 

resulted in a large dump sand in the 

area of the wreck and, for now, the 

wreck is buried once more. 

Full report and more information 

available on the MAST website – 

www.thisismast.org 

Jessica Turner 

Northumberland Coast AONB

Wilds of Wanney 

Local publisher Wilds of Wanney has 

a growing catalogue of small, low cost 

books exploring the history, culture 

and landscape of Northumberland. 

Author and publisher Ian Hall has 

a particular interest in the 20th 

century remains of the county and 

has contributed to this magazine 

in the past (see Archaeology in 

Northumberland 20). Recent titles 

include Relics of War: a guide to the 

20th century military remains in the 

Northumberland landscape as well 

as a new presentation of Henry 

MacLauchlan’s surveys of Watling 

Street and Dere Street. For more 

titles see the Wilds of Wanney website 

at www.wildsofwanney.co.uk . 

British Rock Art News 

England’s Rock Art database 

and website updated and 

expanded 

It is now eight years since the launch 

of the England’s Rock Art (ERA) 

website and database in 2008. 

The site was launched following 

the Herculean recording efforts of 

volunteers who took part in the 

Northumberland and Durham Rock 

Art Pilot (NADRAP) Project. A 

great deal has happened since then 

in terms of recording technologies, 

discoveries, and excavations. The 

completion in September 2013 

of a second recording project in 

West Yorkshire: Carved Stone 

Investigations: Rombalds Moor 

(CSIRM) provided an opportunity 

to update and expand both the 

database and the website. An 

additional 500 panels have been 

added to the original 1500 from the 

North East, each with extensive 

records comprising measurements, 

descriptions, drawings, photographs, 

and 3D models. These records 

include comprehensive evaluations of 

the current condition of the panels, 

and assessments of future risks. This 

type of information helped Historic 

England to decide which carvings 

warranted formal Scheduling in 

Northumberland and Durham and 

it is hoped that the recording carried 

out for the West Yorkshire rock art 

will be instrumental in similar 

Scheduling in this area in the future. 

Prehistoric rock art at Ketley Crag. Seventeen sites comprising 

65 panels of prehistoric carvings were scheduled following work by 

the Northumberland and Durham Rock Art Project between 2004 

and 2009. A diverse range of panels and motifs in various locations 

have been scheduled including Ketley Crag, Buttony, Whitsunbank, 

Amerside Law and Lemmington Wood which also includes an early 

medieval runic inscription. 

The updated website includes a 

new section on the CSIRM Project, 

and updated pages on recording 

techniques and recent excavations. 

New images of the Rombalds Moor 

rock art have been added to the 

Gallery pages. 

Watch out for more updates at: 

http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/ 

era/ 

Kate Sharpe 


Community archaeology 

north of Hadrian’s Wall 


In 2014 the Tynedale North of 

the Wall Archaeology Group was 

formed, as a direct result of the 

North Pennines AONB Partnership’s 

Altogether Archaeology project. The 

group was established to record the 

archaeology of all human activity 

in the area immediately north of 

Hadrian’s Wall since prehistoric 

times. Principally, but not exclusively, 

interested in prehistory, the group, 

whose president is Stan Beckensall, 

currently has a membership of 30. 

The group carries out detailed 

field surveys and reports on their 

work on their website, and through 

leading guided walks and providing a 

programme of evening talks. 

In 2015 the group, independently 

and also as part of the final year of 

Altogether Archaeology fieldwork, 

surveyed an area of some 40 hectares 

north of Sewingshields Crags. Using 

Historic Environment Record data, 

results of Tim Gates’ 2004 aerial 

survey, the National Mapping 

Programme (NMP) data with lidar, 

the group investigated a number 

of previously known features and 

identified new sites, including a 

potentially large ploughed-out cairn 

with a cup-marked boulder on its 

Drawing of the cups, grid and 

channel motifs by Anne Bowyer 

(TNOW). 

Decorated boulder revealed during detailed survey work by 

Altogether Archaeology and Tynedale North of the Wall Archaeology Group volunteers. 

Note the “checkerboard” pattern at the bottom. 

south western edge. Further detailed 

investigation of the cup-marked 

boulder found the decoration 

to have been far more extensive 

than previously thought. Careful 

examination identified a more than 

30 simple cup marks and a number 

of incised grooves which appear 

to be of human origin, rather than 

through natural processes. One 

of these grooves has a distinct 

serpentine shape with indications of 

the groove being broadened into a 

head at its base. In the central area 

bounded by these grooves there 

is what appears to be a ‘grid’ or 

‘checkerboard’ motif. This is of itself 

extremely rare with only one other 

such example in Northumberland 

at Fowberry Enclosure. Our survey 

has revealed the Davy’s Lee stone 

to be located in the perimeter of a 

low mound that we believe could be 

the remains of a cairn, truncated by 

medieval ploughing evidenced by the 

10m wide ridge and furrow which 

occurs throughout the enclosure. 

The work has also cast doubt on 

previous interpretations of a stone 

circle at the west of the project area, 

which may have been a heavily 

robbed burial cairn. It has also 

identified at least two unrecorded 

hut circles outside an enclosure, 

tentatively dated to the Bronze Age; 

and has provided valuable context 

to the previously recorded remains 

through the identification and 

recording of numerous field banks. 

Phil Bowyer 

Tynedale North of the Wall 

Archaeology Group 

http://tynedalearchaeologygroup. 

btck.co.uk/

The Vicar’s Pele, Corbridge 

The Vicar’s Pele stands on the southeast 

side of St Andrew’s churchyard 

and on the north side of Corbridge 

market place. It is a three-storied 

tower house, probably dating to the 

first half of the 14th century. The 

entrance to the Pele is through a 

doorway in the east gable wall, from 

which a mural stair rises to first floor 

level, and another doorway leads 

into a vaulted ground floor chamber. 

Apart from a modern ‘minstrel’s 

gallery’ at the west end, the second 

and third floors are missing. It is 

a Scheduled Ancient Monument 

and Grade I listed building and lies 

within a Conservation Area. 

The Pele was recently sold by 

Northumberland Estates and work 

to convert it into an events venue 

was undertaken through Spence and 

Dower Architects. The conversion 

included provision of a toilet with 

mains drainage and water in the 

south-west angle of the vaulted 

ground floor chamber and a steel 

gallery with glass balustrading at 

second floor level. Both alterations 

were predicated on minimal 

intervention into the historic fabric. 

To inform these works it was 

necessary to establish the depth and 

character of the tower foundations 

and see if there were any surviving 

floor levels by excavating a test 

pit at the south-west corner of the 

vaulted chamber. 

Below the existing flagged floor of 

the chamber, possibly laid when 

the Pele was restored by the Duke 

of Northumberland in 1910, the 

excavation revealed significant 

post-medieval disturbance and 

raising of floor levels. This may 

have occurred when the basement 

was refitted as a ‘lock-up’ in 

about 1825. Most of the deposits 

consisted of building rubble, 

including numerous broken 

sandstone roof flags, and sheep 

bones (metapodials) which had 

been used to hang the flags. Part 

of a horse carcass, a cup-marked 

West wall of Vicar’s Pele exposed during excavations. 

Roof flag stone with bone peg. 

stone, and a sandstone ‘wrestler’ 

ridge tile were also recovered. 

Apart from vestiges of a construction 

cut for the south wall, no in-situ 

medieval deposits or features 

survived within the test pit area. 

Some mid-late 13th century pottery 

was recovered, all residual in postmedieval 

contexts. This probably 

derived from disturbance to medieval 

deposits or features within, or 

perhaps even pre-dating, the Pele. 

No dateable material was recovered 

which could be firmly associated 

with the construction phase of the 

building. 

John Nolan 

Northern Counties Archaeological 

Services 


Layers of localism and regeneration 


Berwick-upon-Tweed is a unique 

place. An historic walled town in 

the far north-east corner of England 

at the mouth of the river Tweed, 

it sits on an elevated peninsular in 

a dramatic coastal setting. With 

surviving medieval layout, 400 

years of bridge building, refined 

domestic and civic architecture and 

outstanding military engineering, it 

has considerable animated variety, 

atmosphere, quality and sense of 

place. Nikolaus Pevsner described it 

as “one of the most exciting towns 

in England, a real town, with the 

strongest sense of enclosure”. 

It is a ‘real town’ with people who 

care about the town’s historic 

legacy but also the provision of local 

jobs, affordable homes, an ageing 

population and struggling tourist 

economy. The succession of defences 

and circuit of stone walls, first laid 

down by Edward I in 1296 and later 

subsumed within the magnificent 

Elizabethan ramparts, continue to 

bestow a muscular embrace around 

the town. 

The Walls however, do not signify 

a barrier to change or delineate a 

boundary for heritage assets to be 

preserved in aspic but they do present 

modern day challenges if Berwick 

is to move forward and grow. The 

21st century presents a struggle 

of a different kind that requires 

intervention and concerted action. 

Like many border towns Berwick 

has tremendous development and 

tourist potential; its built heritage 

is recognised as a valuable asset but 

requires investment. The strategic 

planning process identified a need to 

deliver an economic transformation 

and step change that is so 

desperately required. 

As a result, a five-year ‘Heritageled 

Regeneration Scheme’ has 

successfully been delivered by 

Northumberland County Council 

which concludes this year. With 

external funding from the Heritage 

Lottery Fund, Historic England and 

the former One North East (along 

with owner contributions) the 

scheme has invested £2.8 million 

via a Townscape Heritage Initiative 

(THI) and two Area Partnership 

Schemes (APS). Community input 

has been keenly provided through 

the Conservation Area Advisory 

Group (CAAG). In existence 

since 1999, this forum has grown 

in confidence and stature, and has 

been instrumental in delivering the 

conservation projects. 

The combined Berwick Historic 

Area Improvement Scheme 

(BHAIS) has delivered: 11 

conservation repair projects 

in Bridge Street with its high 

concentration of listed buildings; 16 

repair and enhancement projects in 

Castlegate (a gateway into the town 

from the Station approach); and five 

substantial THI projects around the 

historic junction of Bridge Street 

and Berwick Old Bridge (an iconic 

‘Lowry view’). 

Tradition skills – 

shop front repairs 

Photography archive student 

recording Cowe Buildings 

These discrete areas are where the 

smaller, locally independent trades 

and people are situated – artisan 

businesses selling unique items and 

products, as well as cafés, restaurants 

and a micro pub, all situated on 

the periphery of the town centre in 

historic buildings as well as often 

living over the shop. Many have 

taken up former empty premises as 

a direct result of the grant scheme, 

particularly in Years 2 and 3 that saw 

the scheme become oversubscribed. 

The grant scheme has enabled a 

comprehensive ‘top down’ approach 

to structural fabric repairs to ensure 

the historic building is secured, 

protected and enhanced. This not 

only benefits the whole historic 

asset and builds up a critical mass of 

repaired buildings, it enhances an 

important Berwick characteristic – 

its roofscape. 

Through joined-up grant 

applications (sometimes divided 

between ‘top and bottom’) the 

grants have enabled many improved 

shop frontages as well as utilising 

traditional repair techniques, 

materials and skills. These have 

been carried out mostly using local 

contractors who have benefitted 

from the conservation work with

in Berwick-upon-Tweed 

additional skills training and 

partnership working with the 

Conservation Project Officer and 

Historic England. 

The heritage projects also supported 

a number of complementary 

initiatives with other funders and 

volunteers, including: design work 

and improvement of the public realm, 

facilitating building recording and 

contributing to an enhanced Berwick 

archive. It has broadened the scope 

of understanding by capturing the 

ephemeral things – the discarded 

remnants of past industries, memory, 

anecdotal evidence and ‘atmosphere’, 

that can only be experienced by 

spending time in a place. 

An artist photographer, a writer and 

a filmmaker were commissioned 

to ‘capture the magic’ of the now 

vacant ‘cockle Cowe buildings’ (with 

130 years of family history) through a 

different creative discipline. A more 

abstract, but no less valuable method 

of recording buildings and people, a 

book of photographs, poems and film 

(that was shown five times in one 

day to a sold out audience) are both 

evocative and stimulating as they 

contemplate the concept of heritage, 

memory, bygone times and ‘home’. 

Like most projects within the historic 

environment we express an overriding 

need to ‘conserve the past for future 

generations’, yet so rarely engage the 

School project at work 

Left: 

No 2 Castlegate 

before works 

BELOW: 

No 2 Castlegate 

after works 

future generations in the process. 

The THI has also supported two 

mentoring schemes with young people 

– one with a planning undergraduate 

who worked with Berwick Middle 

School and the other a photography 

archive student who has been 

recording the Cowe buildings. 

The school pupils focused on Bridge 

Street. Ensuring cross-curriculum 

activities, the lesson plans include 

geography, history, design, creative 

writing and IT skills. Explaining 

‘heritage-led regeneration’ to nine 

year olds was both enlightening and 

fascinating to watch. Their project 

entitled ‘Past, Present, Future’ was 

presented as an exhibition in Year 

1 and 2 and they have continued 

to present their work to the annual 

Heritage Day in Berwick. The school 

has rolled out the project across 

five classes as a lasting legacy of the 

Berwick Historic Area Improvement 

Scheme. 

The undergraduates who benefitted 

from the training/mentoring 

initiative both got first class honours 

degrees and continue to work in the 

field of planning/conservation and 

museum/archive recording. 

AR 


Europe’s lost frontiers: Doggerland a 


The only inhabited lands on Earth 

that have not yet been explored 

in any depth by science are those 

that have been lost to the oceans. 

Rising global sea levels at the end 

of the last Ice Age inundated 

vast landscapes on continental 

shelves that had once been home 

to thousands of people. Across the 

world, these lands represent one 

of the last frontiers of geographical 

and archaeological exploration 

and Doggerland, occupying much 

of the North Sea basin between 

continental Europe and Britain and 

including the Northumbrian coast, is 

amongst the most significant of these 

lost lands. These Mesolithic, and 

earlier, landscapes contain not only 

evidence of the flora and fauna that 

its hunter-gatherer groups lived on 

but probably also provides a unique 

opportunity to identify traces of the 

introduction of specific Neolithic 

practise into north-western Europe. 

The potential importance of 

Doggerland to understanding the 

earlier prehistory of north-west 

Europe was initially appreciated by 

British geologist Clement Reid who, 

in 1913, published a book entitled 

Submerged Forests. Reid’s study 

suggested that “… (in these areas) 

the geologist should be able to study 

ancient changes of sea-level, under 

such favourable conditions as to 

leave no doubt as to the reality and 

exact amount of these changes. The 

antiquary should find the remains of 

ancient races of man, sealed up with 

his weapons and tools. Here he will 

be troubled by no complications from 

rifled tombs, burials in older graves, 

false inscriptions, or accidental 

mixture. He ought to here find also 

implements of wood, basketwork, 

or objects in leather, such as are so 

rarely preserved in deposits above 

the water-level.” 

“…however, the submerged 

forests seem to be of little 

interest … the archaeologist is 

inclined to say that they belong 

to the province of geology, and 

the geologist remarks that they 

are too modern to be worth his 

attention; and both pass on.” 

Reid’s pessimistic comments were 

largely fulfilled until recently. In 

1998 a seminal article by Professor 

Bryony Coles and an increasing 

appreciation of the quantities of 

prehistoric material recovered from 

the seabed, raised awareness of 

these issues. Although established 

techniques of archaeological 

prospection were not suited to take 

such observations further a number 

of events changed this situation. 

Initially, research at the University 

of Birmingham revealed that marine 

seismic reflection surveys could 

be used to map the topography 

of the drowned landscapes and 

45,000km 2 of inundated prehistoric 

landscape were recorded using data 

collected for energy exploration. A 

new European territory, somewhat 

larger than the Netherlands, was 

revealed along with its rivers, lakes 

and hills, coastlines and estuaries, 

wetlands and salt marshes. More 

recently, pioneering studies on 

the submarine site at Bouldner 

Cliff on the Solent used DNA 

recovered from archaeological 

sediments for palaeoenvironmental 

reconstruction. The results 

pushed back the presence, if 

not cultivation, of domesticated 

wheat in the UK by 2,000 years – 

suggesting that the nature of the 

Britain and the North Sea showing the 

Dogger Bank. 

© North Sea Palaeolandscapes Project.

nd the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition 

evidence from inundated coastal 

sites is different, or better preserved, 

than those further inland. 

In 2016 the European Research 

Council will fund a new 

Advanced Grant project at the 

University of Bradford to build 

on these achievements. Cores 

will be extracted along two 

submarine Holocene river valleys 

identified by seismic mapping 

and data from sedimentary 

ancient DNA (sedaDNA) and 

palaeoenvironmental analysis will 

be used to build dynamic models of 

the changing geomorphology and 

ecology of Doggerland from around 

10,000BC until its eventual total 

inundation around 5,500BC. In 

doing so the project will explore, 

in a manner never previously 

attempted, the re-settlement and 

abandonment of a previously 

inaccessible, prehistoric country off 

the eastern coasts of England and 

investigate how the transition from a 

hunter gatherer economy to farming 

occurred on the great plains that 

were ultimately lost to the sea. 

References 

Coles, B J, 1998. Doggerland: a 

speculative survey. Proceedings of the 

Prehistoric Society 64, p. 45-81. 

Gaffney, V, Fitch, S and Smith, 

D, 2009. Europe’s Lost World: the 

rediscovery of Doggerland, CBA 

Research Report 160. 

Smith, O, Momber, G, Bates, R, 

Garwood, P, Fitch, S, Pallen, M, 

Gaffney, V and Allaby, R G, (in 

review). Sedimentary DNA from a 

submerged site provides evidence of 

wheat in the British Isles 8000 years 

before present. Science 27 February 

2015 Vol 347 Issue 6225 (DOI: 

10.1126/science.1261278) 

Professor Vince Gaffney 

School of Archaeological Sciences 

University of Bradford 

Map of Eastern Mesolithic Doggerland showing topography and 

hydrology. © North Sea Palaeolandscapes Project. 

Seismic 

view of a 

submarine 

river valley. 

© North Sea 

Palaeolandscapes 

Project. 


Archaeological Investigations at We 


Three phases of archaeological 

investigation were carried out in 

advance of, and during, groundworks 

associated with the development 

of Well Hill Surface Mine site 

west of Stannington in south 

Northumberland. The fieldwork 

comprised two phases of ‘strip, 

map and sample’ investigations 

undertaken between July and August 

2013 and in June 2014, with a phase 

of evaluation between March and 

April 2014. This invasive scheme of 

archaeological evaluation followed 

earlier assessment and evaluation 

undertaken between 2010 and 2012. 

The stripping process carried out 

in 2013 revealed the remains 

of extensive ridge and furrow 

cultivation features running northsouth, 

concrete foundations for a 

World War Two (WWII) structure 

in the east part of the site and 

a small, concentrated scatter of 

extremely coarse pottery of likely 

Iron Age origin in the centre of the 

stripped area. 

The evaluation completed in 

April 2014 yielded significant 

archaeological results from three 

out of the 35 trenches. Towards 

the western boundary of the site 

this included a ditch feature that 

originated as a likely boundary 

feature of some age and in the northeast 

of the site, in Trenches 7 and 8, 

were the foundations of the WWII 

structure and ditches up to 1 metre 

deep, clearly of some antiquity. 

The process of ‘strip, map and 

sample’ carried out in June 2014 

in order to investigate the area of 

Trench 8 in more detail, revealed 

numerous features cut and built into 

the natural subsoil, principally a 

series of large ditches which appear 

to form two or more enclosures. 

Overlying the ditch fill and also 

within the enclosure, were several 

spreads of cobbles; one of which, a 

broad linear stone feature containing 

an alignment of squared stones 

with gaps to indicate possible post 

Aerial view from the west (by T Spicer). 

Plan of enclosures and associated features recorded following site stripping.

ll Hill, Stannington 

settings, may be structural. Elsewhere 

in the interior of the enclosure were 

numerous shallow gullies, some 

straight and others curvilinear, some 

obscured by later cobble spreads. 

The character and scale of most 

of the internal gullies was rather 

similar, suggesting that they were 

cut for similar purposes, but no 

additional evidence was forthcoming 

to determine the nature and date 

of their function, ie, whether they 

were construction trenches for 

(round house) structures or merely 

drainage gullies. In general terms, the 

distribution of these gullies did not 

appear to form a distinctive pattern 

suggestive of structural arrangements 

and gives the impression of having 

been created over a longer timescale, 

perhaps in phases. 

Most of the medieval pottery derived 

from the site came from within 

the inner enclosure. The pottery 

fragments included parts of a jar 

rim and two rod handles, as well 

as a large part of a green-glazed 

whiteware jug and a possible bowl 

or curfew of likely Tyneside origin. 

Three other large sherds, in a fine 

sandy brown fabric, were blackened 

on the inside, also suggesting a 

curfew (or at least some cookingrelated 

activity); a curfew (from 

the French ‘couvre feu’) was a large 

domed vessel used to cover fire at 

night to reduce the risk of sparks 

without having to put the fire out. 

In addition to the features 

represented by, or contained within, 

the inner and outer ditches, a 

number of other features are worthy 

of note. Notably, visible on aerial 

views of the site is another ditch, 

perhaps part of another enclosure 

west of that called the ‘outer’ ditch; 

this follows a course northwards from 

its junction with the southern arm 

of the latter and appears to be on a 

similar scale. 

It is suggested that, while there 

is little evidence to determine 

phasing of the substantial ditches 

View from north over Trench 8 of ditch features (part of outer enclosure) 

exposed during evaluation in the extreme north-east of the site. 

forming possible enclosures, the 

most substantial ditch is, in form, 

similar to late Iron Age enclosures 

of a form common in the region. 

The form of this ditch suggests a 

protective function, quite possibly to 

corral stock against the incursions of 

predators, while those to the west, 

are much slighter and may have 

enclosed agricultural land rather 

than stock. The stone spreads and 

gullies in the interior of the principal 

enclosure appear to be later, the 

stone spreads probably having have 

been inserted to form hardstanding 

for stock management. It is 

speculated that an earlier (perhaps 

Iron Age) enclosure, was reused 

and subsequently extended in the 

medieval period when it formed part 

of a farmstead. 

Evidence for later phases of activity 

on the site are provided in the form 

of two small fragments of 19th 

century domestic pottery, probably 

related to the modern farmstead, 

and six fragments of a NAAFI 

cup, presumably associated with 

the remains of documented WWII 

buildings. 

This work was funded by 

Hargreaves UK and undertaken 

by The Archaeological Practice. 

It was required by the Planning 

Service on the advice of the 


Richard Carlton 

The Archaeological Practice 


New approaches at Yeavering 


Since 2005 The Gefrin Trust 

has supported a range of field 

investigations on the famous 

Anglo-Saxon palace site at 

Yeavering in north Northumberland 

aimed at testing the viability of 

new archaeological applications. 

Following on from the integrated 

geophysical survey conducted 

across 2005-9 (see Archaeology 

in Northumberland 19), Durham 

University has continued to fulfil 

its role within the Trust in applying 

new approaches to the site. 

In 2014-15, university research 

funding and funding from the Trust 

facilitated a pilot project. This has 

been used to build a geographic 

information system (GIS) of the 

site and its hinterland, as well 

as drawing together a range of 

different remote data sources. 

Although the work remains in 

progress, so far a wide range of 

data sets have been integrated and 

tested, including: LiDAR (Light 

Detection and Ranging) digital 

surface model data; site plans 

produced by Brian Hope-Taylor; 

and excavation plans from his 

1977 volume. The data was further 

refined and adjusted to align with 

the results of aerial photography 

and geophysical survey of the site. 

A similar range of data, together 

with historic mapping, has also 

been brought together for the land 

around Yeavering Bell. This has 

revealed a number of potential 

multi-period features, including 

networks of settlements and field 

systems on several sides of the hill. 

A more detailed survey of some of 

these areas is currently underway, 

led by Al Oswald from Sheffield 

University and Stewart Ainsworth 

of the University of Chester, who 

are working together with the 

Durham University pilot and The 

Gefrin Trust. This suggests networks 

of Bronze Age and Late Iron Age 

and/or Romano-British settlements 

and field systems, as well as a 

barrow and possible standing 

The Grandstand, marked out with an Efco Strimmer. 

stone to the south-east. A few of 

these early remains exhibit signs of 

remodelling. 

In addition, images from the 

Hope-Taylor photographic archive 

have been reassessed, providing 

a new insight into the processes 

and stages of excavation across 

Areas A, B and D in the 1950s 

and 1960s. Using an aerial drone, 

Durham student Darren Oliver, 

is also creating photogrammetric 

3D models (including infrared 

photography) of the site taken at 

different times of the year, while 

at a broader scale, data from the 

Historic Environment Record has 

been reviewed. Work is underway 

to look at the wider multi-period 

sites and sequences with a view to 

considering the palace in its early 

medieval hinterland and broader 

chronological framework. 

The pilot project aims to create 

an informed basis from which to 

develop a research design for future 

exploratory survey and investigation 

on the site and its hinterland. 

It might seem rather perverse to 

claim that the visibility of a few 

remains at a site can actually limit 

public understanding of its former 

appearance and extent, but we 

have all seen sites where casually 

sprinkled stumps of ‘conserved’ 

walling convey little more 

than pointing up a place where 

something old once stood. In one 

sense we are fortunate with Ad 

Gefrin, in that it is truly visually a 

blank slate, allowing us to ‘draw’ 

upon it what we wish. We are 

limited however, in that its status 

as a Scheduled Ancient Monument 

imposes limitations on the tools 

we might use on this ‘blank slate’. 

We cannot for example, make 

any damaging, indelible markings 

upon it, such as marking out the 

line of foundation trenches with 

embedded concrete, or wood. 

However, we have been lightly 

marking out their line simply by 

cutting the grass with a lawnmower 

or strimmer – the equivalent of 

a light chalk-line on the slate. In 

2015 we marked out two structures 

to trial the method: Edwin’s Great 

Hall and the Grandstand. Both 

were given no more than a second 

cut in late August; judge the results 

for yourself. 

For more information on Ad Gefrin, 

the work of the trust and updates, 

visit www.gefrintrust.org. 

Dr Sarah Semple, Brian 

Buchanan, Darren Oliver, 

Al Oswald, Stuart Ainsworth 

and Roger Miket

Edwin’s Hall, marked out with a Flymo. 

The site of Yeavering: digitized and geo-rectified plans of the palace complex and associated features. 

Use of aerial photograph with kind permission of Tim Gates. Composite image: © The Yeavering Project 

and Tim Gates. 


Altogether Archaeology in the North Penn 


Introduction 

Altogether Archaeology is the 

North Pennines AONB Partnership’s 

community archaeology project, 

largely funded by the Heritage 

Lottery Fund. After a pilot phase, 

the main project began in 2012 

and ran for three years through 

until November 2015. Nearly 600 

volunteers registered with the 

project and took part in a wide range 

of fieldwork projects and associated 

events across the North Pennines 

in County Durham, Cumbria and 

Northumberland. The volunteers 

have now organised themselves into 

a new group, retaining the name 

‘Altogether Archaeology’ (AA). 

They aim to continue to undertake 

survey and excavation projects 

throughout the North Pennines in 

years to come; anyone interested in 

the area’s archaeological heritage, 

regardless of past experience, is 

welcome to join this group – you can 

register your interest by sending an 

email to altogetherarchaeology@ 

gmail.com 

In July 2014, at the National 

Association of AONBs conference in 

Penrith, the Altogether Archaeology 

project was awarded the prestigious 

Bowland Award. This is awarded 

annually for the ‘the best project, 

best practice or outstanding 

contribution to the wellbeing of 

Areas of Outstanding Natural 

Beauty (AONBs)’. The award is 

appropriate acknowledgement of 

the fantastic work of the project 

volunteers and all the professional 

archaeologists who have helped to 

deliver the project over recent years. 

Kirkhaugh 

For a while in July 2014, the AA 

project was the subject of the most 

read story on the entire BBC News 

website; a story which must have 

been read by millions of people 

around the world! This was the 

result of the discovery by four local 

schoolboys of a priceless gold tressring 

during the excavation of a burial 

Local schoolboys ….and…. with the newly discovered gold tress-ring 

at Kirkhaugh, July 2014. Photo: Marc Johnstone. 

mound at Kirkhaugh, near Alston. 

The object, one of the earliest metal 

objects ever found in Britain, was 

one of a pair, the other having been 

found in 1935 by the great-great 

grandfather of two of the boys! The 

burial mound at Kirkhaugh dates 

from about 2,400BC. Judging by the 

finds, which, in addition to the gold, 

include jet buttons, top quality flint 

arrowheads, a pottery beaker, and a 

‘cushion stone’ (a hand-held portable 

anvil, used for working copper and 

gold), the burial was probably that of 

an early metalworker who may have 

been in the area looking for sources 

of copper when he died. There is 

only one comparable burial in the 

whole of Britain, the famous example 

of the Amesbury Archer from near 

Stonehenge, the excavation of which 

was directed by Andrew Fitzpatrick, 

who also directed the Kirkhaugh 

dig (assisted by The Archaeological 

Practice, Newcastle upon Tyne). 

Analysis of the Amesbury Archer’s 

teeth proved that he was born in the 

Alps, and for some reason travelled 

to Stonehenge where he died. Sadly, 

the AA excavation of the Kirkhaugh 

mound failed to find any bones or 

teeth (they had rotted away due to 

the acid soil), so we will probably 

never know whether the individual 

buried here had such exotic origins 

as the Amesbury Archer, though 

The gold tress-ring from Kirkhaugh. 

Photo: Elisabeth Langton-Airey. 

there is a fair chance that he did. 

In addition to the burial mound, a 

sizeable assemblage of Mesolithic 

flint was also recovered during the 

excavation; clearly there had been a 

Mesolithic settlement of some kind 

here, perhaps 5,000 years before 

the burial mound was built. (See 

Archaeology in Northumberland vol 

21, for more information about the 

1935 discovery). 

Epiacum and Gilderdale Burn 

Over recent years much work 

has been undertaken at Epiacum 

(Whitley Castle) Roman fort, 

just north of Alston. A new notfor-profit 

company, Epiacum 

Heritage Ltd, has been set up to 

oversee the future management 

of this very important site; much 

fascinating information is available 

on the company website – www.

ines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 

Epiacum molehill survey in progress. 

A jet bead, one of several 

hundred Roman objects found 

during the Epiacum molehill 

survey over the past 5 years 

epiacumheritage.org. The Roman 

fort, linked to forts at Carvoran on 

Hadrian’s Wall and Kirkby Thore 

on the A66 via the road known to 

us as the Maiden Way, must have 

been sited here in order to oversee 

lead and silver mining in the North 

Pennines. Detailed archaeological 

survey of the fort and its landscape 

setting was undertaken by English 

Heritage (now part of Historic 

England; download the report at: 

http://research.historicengland.org. 

uk/ number 89/2009) as part of the 

‘Miner-Farmer’ project on Alston 

Moor. Subsequent work undertaken 

by AA volunteers in partnership with 

Epiacum Heritage has included the 

annual molehill survey, resulting in 

the recovery of hundreds of Roman 

artefacts such as pottery, coins, beads 

of glass and jet, iron nails and a little 

bronze dolphin. All objects recovered 

during the molehill survey, which has 

now taken place each spring for five 

years, are recorded and catalogued 

with the same precision as if they 

were from an excavation and a full 

report on the results is in preparation. 

During the Miner-Farmer project, 

about twenty previously unrecorded 

roundhouse settlements of presumed 

Iron Age or Roman date were 

recorded by Historic England 

within a few kilometres of Epiacum. 

During September 2015, an 

excavation was completed of one 

of these settlements, at Gilderdale 

Burn, close by the fort. This was 

directed by Stewart Ainsworth (of 

Channel 4’s Time Team and Chester 

University) and Richard Carlton 

(The Archaeological Practice). 

Results suggest that the site dates 

from the pre-Roman Iron Age and 

was abandoned at about the time 

the Roman fort was built. Analysis of 

samples from the hearth of a timberbuilt 

roundhouse demonstrates 

that the people living here grew 

cereals, including spelt wheat and 

six-row barley, and also gathered 

wild resources including hazelnuts. 

They presumably also kept cattle, 

although no evidence for this was 

found. Using evidence from lidar 

(light detection and ranging) survey, 

the volunteers also uncovered two 

small areas of a well-preserved and 

apparently very extensive sandstoneslabbed 

surface surviving apparently 

intact to the south of the fort. This 

has been interpreted as a largely 

intact Roman parade ground (or 

waggon park); if the former then it 

is a very rare find within the context 

of Roman Britain. Volunteers also 

completed a detailed survey of the 

ruined historic farm building of 

Holymire, adjacent to the Roman 

Lidar image of Epiacum Roman fort and surrounding area. The Maiden Way 

Roman road (overlain by medieval ridge and furrow) can be clearly seen 

passing north-south to the east of the fort. The roundhouse settlement of 

Gilderdale Burn in ringed in red. (Lidar image © Historic England/North 

Pennines AONB). 


Altogether Archaeology 


fort, which dates back probably to 

the 17th century and in the future 

may be consolidated and developed 

into a visitor centre. 

Lidar Landscapes: Allen 

Valleys and Hexhamshire 

Working in partnership with 

Stewart Ainsworth, a group of AA 

volunteers have spent a couple of 

years examining lidar maps of the 

Allen Valleys and Hexhamshire 

in the search for previously 

unrecognised archaeological sites. 

Over 800 ‘new’ sites have been 

discovered, including roundhouse 

settlements of Iron Age and Roman 

date, medieval settlements and 

extensive field systems of various 

dates. In addition to these ‘new’ 

sites, the lidar survey has uncovered 

additional information about many 

sites that were already known but 

never previously studied in any 

detail. As a result of all this work, 

the historic environment record of 

the Allen Valleys and Hexhamshire, 

previously largely dominated by 

post-medieval sites, now includes a 

fascinating range of sites extending 

back into prehistoric times. All of 

this information will be entered onto 

the county Historic Environment 

Record and will be accessible 

through Keys to the Past. www. 

keystothepast.info 

Northumberland National 

Park landscape surveys 

In partnership with the 

Northumberland National Park 

Authority, and the recently 

established Tynedale North of the 

Wall community archaeology group 

(founded by AA volunteer Phil 

Bowyer) important archaeological 

surveys of extensive landscapes have 

been completed at Sewingshields, 

Davy’s Lee and Ravensheugh see 

p 32. These have included the 

careful recording of a range of 

sites of prehistoric, Roman and 

medieval date, demonstrating 

that the land around Hadrian’s 

Wall contains much important 

archaeology in addition to Roman 

military sites. These surveys were 

completed in partnership with 

Oxford Archaeology North. The 

AA volunteers also completed 

geophysical surveys of six milecastles 

on Hadrian’s Wall in partnership 

with Durham University. This 

work was designed to improve our 

understanding of the purpose of 

the milecastles and thus of the way 

in which the entire Hadrian’s Wall 

complex was originally intended to 

function. Although the results are 

variable, they tend to suggest that 

many of the milecastles may never 

have had substantial roads passing 

through them. The implications of 

Gilderdale Burn, Stewart Ainsworth explaining the excavations to visitors, 

August 2014. 

this require careful thought and 

further fieldwork may be justified in 

order to clarify the results. 

North Pennines Virtual 

Museum (NPVM) 

When important finds are made in 

the North Pennines, they usually 

end up in museums outside the area; 

for example in Newcastle, Barnard 

Castle, Carlisle, or even London. 

The North Pennines Virtual 

Museum (NPVM) is an initiative 

to bring such finds together, so 

that they can be appreciated by 

local people or others with an 

interest in the area. It has been 

set up in collaboration with the 

Weardale Museum (Ireshopeburn), 

with specialist advice from Marc 

Johnstone of The Archaeological 

Practice. It was officially opened in 

July 2015 and currently includes 

about 60 objects, such as prehistoric 

stone axes and carved stones, 

Roman altars and coins, early 

medieval coffins, remains associated 

with the lead industry, and the 

anchor of the Titanic (partly made 

in Weardale). Why not take a look 

– you can find it at www.npvm.org. 

uk. The virtual museum will never 

be ‘full’ – we hope that people will 

continue to suggest lots more objects 

for possible inclusion and details of 

how to do so can be found on the 

website. 

Further information about 

the Altogether Archaeology 

project is available on the North 

Pennines AONB website (www. 

northpennines.org) where 

links to all project reports will 

eventually be available. Please 

note that any questions about 

the new Altogether Archaeology 

group should be addressed to 

altogetherarchaeology@gmail.com 

and not to the AONB Partnership. 

Paul Frodsham 

North Pennines AONB

Belsay Castle 

In 2014, AD Archaeology was 

commissioned by English Heritage 

to undertake an archaeological 

excavation in advance of the 

upgrading of lightning protection at 

Belsay Castle – a 15 th century tower 

house with an attached range of early 

17 th century buildings. A series of six 

test pits, 1m by 1m in size and 0.50m 

deep, were hand-excavated adjacent 

to the walls and three produced 

evidence of archaeological remains. 

A trench adjacent to the southern 

wall of the Tower revealed the 

foundation plinth and a course of 

foundation stones from the southern 

face of the Tower. The foundation 

plinth, which was only partially 

exposed, consisted of two layers of 

roughly laid sandstone blocks and 

fragments (up to 0.30m by 0.20m in 

size), the lowest of which projected 

0.30m south of the line of the Tower 

wall itself. Above the plinth was 

a wall foundation layer consisting 

of a single course of tightly-jointed 

rectangular sandstone blocks, 0.30m 

in height set in a yellow-white 

mortar. This wall foundation layer 

was overlain by a course of thinner 

blocks with an offset which stands 

exposed above the present ground 

level. An east-west stone-capped 

drain was located 0.60m south of the 

wall. The capping stones were only 

partially exposed but were unworn 

suggesting that this was constructed 

as a subterranean feature. The drain 

ran east-west parallel to the line 

of the wall of the Tower and may 

represent a feature of medieval date. 

A trench next to the northern wall 

of the Tower revealed a cobbled 

surface of likely medieval date. One 

of the connecting trenches to link 

to the cables on the walls exposed 

a sandstone structure abutting the 

north wall of the Tower. It consisted 

of two dressed sandstone blocks 

abutting the Tower wall, with their 

long-axes north-south, set 1.65m 

apart. Running north-south between 

these two blocks was an alignment 

of four sandstone blocks, averaging 

Probable medieval cobbled surface next to the Tower. 

0.40m by 0.30m by 0.35m in size. 

The southern side of the alignment 

of four blocks was 0.35m from the 

north wall of the Tower. The stone 

structure lay directly beneath the 

garderobe chute on the north face of 

the Tower and it is probable that it 

relates to this feature. One possible 

interpretation is that it formed a 

foundation for a superstructure 

(perhaps in timber) to deflect waste 

from the garderobe into a drain and 

prevent it accumulating at the base 

of the wall. 

A trench against the western wall of 

the North Range revealed a cobbled 

surface of probable medieval date at 

the base of the trench. 

The structural remains and cobbled 

surfaces were not disturbed by the 

works. Following their recording 

they were covered with membrane 

and a layer of soil to ensure their 

preservation in situ. Whilst it is 

difficult to interpret features from 

such small-scale interventions the 

discovery and recording of the 

structural elements associated with 

the medieval Tower and the location 

of the cobbled surfaces represents 

Sandstone structure abutting 

the Tower. 

a useful contribution to the 

understanding of the archaeology of 

the site. 

Jon McKelvey 

AD Archaeology 


Heritage at Risk 


Historic England (Historic Buildings 

and Monuments Commission for 

England) has been campaigning 

on behalf of heritage at risk since 

the creation of their Buildings at 

Risk Register in 1998. The Register 

has expanded since then and now 

includes all nationally designated 

heritage assets and locally designated 

conservation areas (http://www. 

historicengland.org.uk/advice/ 

heritage-at-risk/) 

The Heritage at Risk Register 

provides an annual snapshot of 

historic sites known to be at risk 

from neglect, decay or inappropriate 

development. There are 302 entries 

on the North East 2015 Heritage at 

Risk Register, making up 5.4% of the 

national total of 5,534 entries. 

Historic England could not 

encourage and deliver successful 

projects without local partnerships 

with owners, local authorities and 

other agencies and groups who also 

think it is crucial to tackle heritage 

at risk. 

The historic buildings and 

landscapes of the North East are 

under constant attack from an array 

of implacable enemies, natural or 

otherwise. With willing owners and 

partners, we can continue to help to 

understand the overall condition of 

our historic sites and focus attention 

on the neediest cases. Critically, 

we need to identify issues and 

options before repair programmes 

start, and bring together individuals 

and organisations to deliver 

sustainable solutions. Last year we 

removed 27 heritage assets from the 

Register in the North East – 11 in 

Northumberland and many of these 

feature in the pages of this magazine. 

Using Historic England grant aid 

a rare heather thatched barn has 

been fully repaired at Tow House, 

Bardon Mill, a number of important 

structures were repaired, including 

the monastic cell and tower on 

Coquet Island, and vegetation was 

cleared at Wark Castle. Other assets 

grant-aided by Historic England 

recently range from several buildings 

within Berwick-upon-Tweed 

Conservation Areas to the survey of 

important mill machinery at Linnels 

Mill and a rare glasshouse at Felton 

Park. 

Natural England’s Countryside 

Stewardship scheme is re-launched 

this year and will bolster an already 

successful partnership. Last year 

their funding and advice removed 

Mohopehead lead mine, West Allen 

and the lime kiln at Little Mill, 

Longhoughton from the Register. 

This year we are funding a joint 

research project to find effective 

ways of controlling bracken, which 

threatens to overwhelm our upland 

Felton Park glass house before repairs. Photo by Richard Barnes. 

landscapes. Successful clearance 

of bracken is already occurring on 

Harehaugh hillfort and sites in the 

Ingram valley (see Archaeology in 

Northumberland 21). 

We also need to continue to work 

with those who manage and care for 

Places of Worship in the region like 

the community at Christ Church, 

Hepple who successfully removed 

their church from the Register last 

year. Historic England provides 

expert advice to the Heritage Lottery 

Fund to enable them to deliver their 

Grants for Places of Worship scheme. 

The HLF are also supporting projects 

like Inspired Futures, which builds 

local capacity to tackle heritage at 

risk. 

Encouragingly, there is increasing 

awareness amongst community 

and volunteer groups that their 

contribution in the fight to reduce 

risks to heritage has a lasting legacy 

and it is important that we all 

continue to provide support for the 

development of best practice, skills 

and events so that we build on our 

success and enable more people to 

get involved with heritage at risk 

projects. 

Kate Wilson 

Historic England

Felton Park glass house after repairs. Photo by Robin Dower. 

Tow House after repairs. Photo © Historic England. 


Excavations at Bolton Chapel 

Archaeological monitoring was 

conducted in May and June 2013 

during groundworks associated 

with the excavation of trenches 

for new services at Bolton Chapel 

(NGR NU 10630 13674), near 

Glanton in Northumberland. 

Bolton Chapel, a Grade II 

Listed Building, is a chapel-ofease 

situated in the Parish of 

Edlingham and dates to at least 

the 12th century. It sits upon a 

raised mound and enclosure of 

probable prehistoric origin and is 

of significant historical interest. 

The principal findings of the 

present series of excavations are 

that significant structural remains 

of the medieval period survive in 

the area between the south wall of 

the nave and the west wall of the 

porch. The excavated remains in 

this area are interpreted as those 

of a 13th century tower, perhaps 

a later addition to the Norman 

church. Subsequently, the plinth of 

the small south-west tower appears 

to have been destroyed down to 

ground level before the west wall 

of the nave was rebuilt at some 

time in the later medieval period. 

Other structural remains 

uncovered during these works, 

including those of a 19th century 

boiler room on the north side of 

the nave, are of minor significance, 

although the investigation of 

the latter did uncover a re-used 

carved stone, probably a small 

grave slab dating to the late 13th 

or 14th centuries. Elsewhere, the 

excavations revealed a number of 

burials, some at shallow depths 

and very close to the chapel 

structure, suggesting that the site 

has been used as a burial ground 

since the medieval period and 

graves are likely to occur anywhere 

within the bounds of the chapel 

and attached burial ground. 

The excavations at Bolton Chapel 

have increased its structural 

and historical complexity and 


Interpretive plan of Bolton Chapel. 

enhanced the status of the site, 

already known as that of an ‘early’, 

probably pre-Christian religious 

site. The chapel is now included 

in the Flodden Virtual Museum 

site on account of its role as an 

overnight resting station for the 

English Army on its way to the 

Battle of Flodden in 1513. 

This work was funded by 

Whittingham Parochial Church 

Council and undertaken by The 

Archaeological Practice. 

Richard Carlton and Peter Ryder 

The Archaeological Practice 

Inscribed medieval grave cover 

discovered during the excavations. 

View of excavated 

remains from the 

south-east.

Keeping it local: 

community involvement in heritage condition surveys 

The Otterburn Ranges occupy some 

23,000 hectares of moorland in the 

southern Cheviots and boasts one of 

the highest concentrations of multiperiod 

archaeological monuments in 

the country. About 95% of the Ranges 

are in the Northumberland National 

Park and it is the shared aim of the 

Ministry of Defence (MOD) and 

the Northumberland National Park 

Authority (NNPA) to ensure that 

the monuments are well managed 

and, as far is possible on an active 

military training area, that they are 

brought to the attention of the public 

at large. Whilst visits to some of the 

monuments can be arranged during 

non-firing times, over the past few 

years some of the archaeological sites 

on the Ranges have been brought 

to a wider audience by featuring on 

television and radio programmes or by 

write-ups in popular magazines. 

One of the more successful 

methods of monument management 

has involved members of the 

local community who survey the 

monuments and produce a condition 

assessment report. To understand 

how this has come about we must 

turn the clock back some four 

years when archaeologists from the 

National Park, Historic England 

and the MOD organised tuition 

sessions in Monument Condition 

Assessments in response to requests 

from members of the public. Site 

recces, case studies, workshops 

and safety briefings were all part of 

the training package, but the main 

ingredient was, and continues to 

be, the enthusiasm, goodwill and 

archaeological nous of the volunteer 

surveyors. Otterburn Ranges is home 

to some 75 scheduled monuments, 

all of which are subjected to a five 

year rolling programme of inspection. 

This is not too problematic for the 

more accessible sites, close to HQ 

and situated by the side of a road… 

but for those sites situated close to 

the Scottish border, well away from 

anywhere and anyone, it can take up 

Filming Tales from Northumberland with Robson Green at the 

Otterburn Ranges. Photo: © Phil Abramson. 

to five years to organise the logistics 

for a site recce. I exaggerate of 

course, but there are those amongst 

the team who relish the remoteness 

and isolation of the far flung sites 

and rose to the challenge of the 

inspection. 

One of the sites included in the 

survey was the Roman Camp at 

Burdhopecrag, close to the former 

Redesdale Camp, just off the A68 

at Rochester. Roman camps were 

temporary defensive structures, 

constructed in enemy territory 

during the army’s campaigning 

season. It is thought that a Camp 

could have been used for only 

a matter of days before it was 

abandoned when the army moved 

on. Visible clues to a Camp include 

a low earthen rampart and an 

outside ditch, but internal evidence 

is very sparse, probably because 

the army erected tents rather than 

buildings in the Camps. At first 

glance the Camp at Burdhopecrag 

appeared to be in good condition, 

but on closer inspection by the 

volunteers it was clear that the 

rampart was being eroded by sheep 

hunkering down for shelter from 

the winter storms. A team was 

assembled and the erosion scrapes 

were cleaned back, recorded and 

Volunteers excavating at 

Burdhopecrag. 

© Phil Abramson. 

then the rampart was re-instated. 

The end result is that a monument 

which could have been a candidate 

for the heritage at risk register has 

been conserved in perpetuity…or 

at least until the next flock of sheep 

decides to use it for a windbreak! 

Phil Abramson 

DIO Archaeology Advisor 


Bradford Kaims Wetland Heritage P 


The Bamburgh Research Project is 

working with the local community 

and universities to investigate a 

truly remarkable ancient wetland 

site near the village of Lucker in 

north Northumberland, supported 

by the Heritage Lottery Fund and 

Historic England. The Bamburgh 

Research Project began to 

investigate the landscape close to 

Bradford Kaims in 2009 as the area 

looked a promising candidate for 

prehistoric activity. Initial testpitting 

and field walking quickly 

developed into excavation and 

ongoing evaluation. 

The site is a series of glacial kaims 

(Scots kaim: a hill) rolling into an 

alkaline peat bog site at Newham 

Bog. The peat has created excellent 

conditions for preservation of 

organic material but the basin water 

level has been dropping over the 

last century resulting in the peat 

gradually drying out. This peat loss 

is the primary reason for evaluating 

the site. 

The results so far have shown 

there is a vast amount of amazing 

archaeology with remains spanning 

the Mesolithic to Bronze Age periods. 

The preservation is breath-taking 

and the sheer amount of features 

Kaims North excavations in 2015. 

and artefacts is almost overwhelming. 

This is a brief roundup of the 2014 

and 2015 seasons. 

Kaims North is an investigation 

of a series of Neolithic and Early 

Bronze Age burnt mounds and 

an associated extensive, wooden 

platform area, which is well 

preserved by the peat. 

In one trench (6) relationships 

between the platform and burnt 

mounds have emerged. There seem 

to be many phases to both features 

and they overlie each other. It is 

going to be a complicated process 

unpicking these relationships, but 

it provides an opportunity to use 

micro-stratigraphy to do the most 

in-depth analysis of a burnt mound 

sequence undertaken anywhere. 

Trench 10 near end 

of season showing 

worked wood in 

abundance. 

The burnt mound sequence has 

been totally excavated in places to 

reveal complex features, showing 

occupation and industrial activity 

from the Neolithic period. Several 

troughs are associated with the 

mounds and there are clear signs 

of Neolithic building remains 

beneath the mounds. Further work 

will be carried out into the way 

burnt mounds are created and the 

micro-activity that will allow us to 

interpret them better. 

Another trench (10) was positioned 

to look at the prehistoric platform 

and identify how deep it is and 

what is made up from. Using a 

combination of excavation and 

coring, by Dr Richard Tipping of 

Stirling University, the platform was 

found to measure over 3m deep, 

and over 15m wide. It really is vast 

and heavily stratified and contains 

a huge amount of worked wood 

dating back to the Neolithic period. 

Kaims South is an investigation of 

a Neolithic land surface as it runs 

down into a lake edge where the 

preservation is fantastic. 

In one trench (9) excavation 

revealed a complex sequence 

of archaeology running from a 

Neolithic land surface down into 

a lake edge. There are hundreds of 

stake holes as well as well-preserved 

stakes and timbers. A circular 

structure was also discovered, 

measuring about 2m in diameter, 

which has initially been interpreted 

as a sweat lodge, similar to the

oject 

Trench 11 with well-preserved wood and a sand topped palaeochannel. 

ones seen in North American First 

Nation sites; a nearby hearth and 

proximity of the water’s edge are 

very compelling. 

Further well-preserved wood was 

revealed in another trench (11); 

much of it is worked and there are 

hints of trackways running back 

towards the burnt mounds, or 

possible sweat lodge sites. 

Experimental Archaeology 

This season has included a lot of 

experimental archaeology – brewing 

beer, baking almost edible bread, 

working flint tools and making tools 

from bone, all using prehistoric 

technology. Arguably the greatest 

success came from the woodworking 

where wooden wedges and a stone 

axe were used to split logs and make 

a functioning copy of a paddle 

found in 2013. 

Community Archaeology 

Over 100 community volunteers 

have been involved in the 

latest season, including young 

archaeologists. They are all from 

the local area and are dedicated 

and enthusiastic, turning up in 

all weathers. They really were 

a pleasure to have on site and 

contributed massively to the 

excavation and general on site 

atmosphere. 

Final thoughts… 

Work will continue in 2016 and 

over the next few seasons it is 

hoped to complete the evaluation 

stage in order to assess how much 

archaeology is here, what condition 

it is in and how we can best 

approach excavating, recording and 

protecting it. The importance of the 

site, together with ongoing gradual 

erosion from drainage works, means 

action is needed soon. 

Paul Gethin 

Bamburgh Research Project 

Web: 

www.bamburghresearchproject.co.uk 

Twitter: 

@brparchaeology 

Youtube: 

/bamburghmedia 

Blog: 

bamburghresearchproject.wordpress.com 


In Search of Holystone Priory 


Introduction, by Jan Frazer 

For several years the Holystone 

Archaeology Group has researched 

the location of the medieval 

nunnery which once stood in the 

village (HER 1211). From the 

few remaining documents it was 

known to have played an important 

role in Coquetdale from the 12th 

century, though fortunes dwindled 

towards its dissolution in 1539. The 

present church was substantially 

rebuilt in 1848, but throughout the 

village there are clues to something 

altogether grander, including 

elaborate grave slabs and worked 

stone in houses and stone walls. 

These accounts generally agree that 

the present church is situated on 

the site of the nunnery. 

The group’s investigations began 

in 2005 when a grant was received 

to work with a team from Durham 

University to carry out geophysical 

surveys to the north and south of 

the church; the results were, sadly, 

inconclusive. 

However, the group’s interest was 

revitalised in 2014 when the local 

gravedigger revealed parts of a 

large wall whilst digging a number 

of new graves, north of the church. 

The group was fortunate to be 

offered help by Andrew Wilson of 

DeepScan AR Ltd, to carry out 

ground penetrating radar of the 

site. Once the necessary consents 

had been obtained (the site is a 

Scheduled Ancient Monument), 

Andrew spent several days 

scanning around the church. His 

scans revealed several interesting 

images on the south side of the 

church, which suggested possible 

priory walls. 

The group then received grants 

from the Northumberland 

National Park Authority 

and Coquetdale Community 

Archaeology to carry out a smallscale 

excavation. In March 2015, 

about 15 people came each day 

for five days, the majority from 

Probable east wall of an eastern claustral range in trench 3. 

Holystone itself, and fortunately in 

good weather. Three trenches were 

dug in the areas that the radar had 

shown to look promising in the area 

south of the church, and by the first 

lunchtime parts of a huge wall were 

already emerging. The walls that 

came to light were all substantial 

and the work revealed a 2m long 

grave slab, decorated with a cross 

shaft. Some of the decoration 

on the grave slab had been worn 

away, probably by the passage of 

feet, suggesting it had been reused 

outside a blocked doorway. Dig 

director Richard Carlton believes 

that the substantial wall is likely to 

be a southwards continuation of 

the east end of the Priory Church, 

forming the external wall to an 

eastern cloistral range. 

The dig was completed in its fiveday 

window and everything tidily 

backfilled in order to preserve the 

remains. 

The Excavations, 

by Richard Carlton 

The first trench extended from the 

south-west corner of the existing 

church and excavations exposed 

the nave wall below ground level. 

Here, the north side of a splayed 

door opening was revealed that 

comprised stone blocks with a door 

rebate; the door threshold had 

been removed together with the 

corresponding south side of the 

doorway, which must have once 

opened from the church into a 

room or passage running alongside

Medieval grave cover. 

earlier date and perhaps associated 

with a post-medieval reconstruction 

of the church. 

A drain found running beside the 

south wall of the current church 

could be associated with a narrow 

east-west wall, possibly the sleeper 

wall for the north cloister walk. The 

stone culvert comprised narrow 

flags set on edge, set on well-dressed 

(probably reused) flags with rougher 

capstones above. 

North of the drain feature, at the 

same depth as the floor of the 

culvert, a medieval cross slab grave 

cover was discovered. Although 

the damaged east end of the slab 

remained under the baulk of the 

trench, it was possible to determine 

that its length was about 2.15m and 

that it was between 0.38 – 0.46m 

wide, with quite a broad incised 

cross shaft (95mm wide). 

This trench also revealed a blocked 

doorway in the nave wall that 

measures 1.15m wide and whose 

jambs survive to a height of 1.6m. 

A door sill forming the lower part 

of the blocking may be original but 

appears somewhat incongruous. The 

doorway sits below but off-centre of 

a blocked two-light window, which 

in turn has been supplanted by a 

round-arched 19th-century window 

Trench plan. 

– perhaps into the sacristy or a 

passage through the west range, or 

the north cloister walk. 

The second trench was positioned 

against the south wall of the church, 

close to the east end of the current 

nave. Running north-south through 

the trench was a wall of well-tooled 

sandstone ashlar, 0.52m wide and 

up to three courses high, sitting 

on a rough cobble foundation or 

levelling course. Though well-built 

with mortar bonding, the wall was 

poorly coursed and appeared to 

be made from reused blocks. It is 

thought to be of 18th century or 


In Search of Holystone Priory 


of vaguely Romanesque character. 

A third trench extended from the 

south-east buttress of the chancel 

and excavation revealed a very 

substantial wall running northsouth. 

It was built of large blocks 

of tooled sandstone with the upper 

course 0.90m wide, but stepped 

out by a series of projecting plinth 

and foundation courses making 

the base of the wall about 1.54m 

wide; the wall survived up to 

0.95m deep. The wall is thought 

to be the east wall of an eastern 

claustral range, in line with the 

east end of the medieval church. 

A narrower east-west wall, only 

0.59m wide, abutted it to the west 

and is likely to be associated with 

the schoolhouse building shown 

abutting the south side of the 

shortened church on the Tithe 

Plan of the 1840s. 

As a result of this recent work 

another piece of the jigsaw has 

been found in the quest to piece 

together the layout and location 

of the medieval priory. Now, 

along with evidence from other 

observations, this suggests the 

presence of a parochial nave, 

known from the respond of its 

south aisle arcade at the southwest 

corner of the present church, 

and a Lady Chapel which is known 

from grave-digging on the north 

side of the church. In addition, 

the south claustral range may 

have been represented by a row 

of former cottages south of the 

church that were demolished in 

the late 19th century. Another, 

more-recently abandoned house 

on the north side of the row, may 

have been founded on remains of 

the Chapter House. 

Based on this new information, 

an reconstruction drawing of the 

Priory as it may have appeared 

in the 14th century has been 

made, with the parish church and 

its tower at the west end of the 

complex, the Priory church east of 

North-south post-medieval wall in Trench 2.

it with Lady Chapel attached to its 

north side and on its south side the 

cloister and conventual buildings. 

So it appears the group has finally 

pinned down the Priory’s exact 

location – which it publicised with 

a month-long display in the church 

and a public talk attended by 70 

people on a grim wet night in July. 

Jan Frazer, 

Holystone Archaeology Group 

Richard Carlton, 

The Archaeological Practice Ltd 

Reconstruction drawing of Holystone Priory, by Peter Ryder. 

General view of excavations. 


Roman stones at West Uppertown F 


In 2015 a number of Roman stones 

were recorded in farm buildings at 

West Uppertown Farm, Simonburn, 

including an unusual altar. The farm 

lies north of Hadrian’s Wall about 

1.5km from Turret 30A, 1.75km 

north-east of Carrawburgh Roman 

fort and 5km north-west of Chesters 

Roman fort. It is not known when 

the two buildings which incorporate 

the Roman stones were built but they 

appear to be of 19th century date. 

The first stone is an altar built into 

a barn wall and latterly used as a 

chicken step. The altar was laid 

horizontally when the barn was 

built with the base incorporated 

into the wall and the capital 

projecting out to form the step. 

There is no discernible decoration 

on the visible part of the altar, 

although any decoration is likely 

to be in the body of the barn wall 

together with the die, on which any 

inscription might be carved. The 

damaged base of the altar is visible 

inside the barn allowing its height 

to be calculated as 740mm (width: 

460mm and depth: 240mm). The 

altar is already recorded as RIB 1520 

(http://romaninscriptionsofbritain. 

org/inscriptions/1520); it was seen 

by Richard Wright in 1941 and 

presumed to have come originally 

from Carrawburgh. 

The top of the altar has a bossed 

focus standing proud of the flanking 

bolsters (fig1) but the fronts of 

the bolsters are missing (fig2). An 

irregular lozenge-shaped plaque 

decorates the face of the capital with 

the higher upper section running 

up to the lip of the focus and the 

shorter lower section projecting 

down into the otherwise plain 

capital (fig3). So far no parallel has 

been found in Roman Britain for this 

feature, which takes the place of a 

pediment. 

The second stone is built into 

another barn in the farm complex. 

It is a socket stone, possibly an altar 

base, which has been used as one of 

Fig1 Bossed focus on top of altar standing proud of the flanking bolsters. 

Photo by L Allason-Jones 

Fig2 Side view showing original right bolster. 

Photo by L Allason-Jones.

arm 

the foundation stones of an external 

stair (fig4). Only half of the stone 

survives and it measures: height: 

280mm, width: 670mm, depth: 

330mm. There is no evidence of 

decoration but the tool marks are 

still visible on the face. Although the 

socket measurements reflect those of 

the base of the altar described above 

it cannot be presumed that the one 

was supported by the other. 

The same external staircase has also 

been built using at least 13 stones 

that resemble Roman voussoir stones 

(length: 65cm, widths: taper from 

28cm to 22cm); more may be within 

the stair’s structure. One has four 

straight tooled lines on one face; 

each line is about 70mm long and 

5mm wide and has been made by a 

round-ended, iron tool (fig5). Some 

of the other stones have similar 

motifs but none as clearly. Dr Roger 

Tomlin visited the site but was 

unable to state whether these marks 

were intended to provide keying 

for mortar (although this is very 

different to diamond broaching) or 

were numeric quarry marks or guides 

to the builders. 

There is the question as to 

where such voussoirs might have 

originated. A calculation by 

Loic Fields, a civil engineer with 

Ove Arup, confirms that, on the 

presumption that the arch is a 

constant radius and fills a full 

180° the span covered would 

be about 4.5m. There would be 

some variation, given that the 

voussoirs are not precisely the same 

measurements and it is unknown 

if the joints would be mortared or 

not. The 4.5m calculation presumes 

20mm mortaring; but 4.5m is an 

unusual span for Hadrian’s Wall. The 

six voussoirs known from the Roman 

bridge at Chesters, the closest likely 

bridge over a watercourse to West 

Uppertown, have an average width 

of 43cm tapering to 35cm; the spans 

for the Chesters bridge have been 

calculated as 10.5m. Milecastle gates 

Fig3 Original front face of the alter 

showing the unusual motif. 

Photo by L Allason-Jones. 

Fig4 Base stone showing the socket in the centre. 


have an average span of 3m – the 

north gate of Milecastle 37, for 

example, has a span of 3.1m. The 

outer entrance of the principia at 

Chesters measures 3m, whilst the 

inner entrance measures 3.25m. 

However, the distance between 

the piers of the cross hall in the 

basilica of the Chesters principia 

measure about 4m and a stone 

built within one of the piers has 

similar dimensions to those from 

West Uppertown. It is possible 

that the voussoirs under discussion 

could have come from a similar 

cross hall at Carrawburgh fort but 

the excavations of the principia at 

Fig5 End of voussoir showing 

incised motif. 


Carrawburgh did not uncover that 

section of the building. It should 

be noted, however, that the overall 

dimensions of the internal buildings 

at Carrawburgh fort are smaller than 

those at Chesters. 

The presumption is that the West 

Uppertown voussoirs came from 

the principia at Chesters but, in 

the absence of further proof, this 

must remain a presumption. A new 

English Heritage project on the loose 

stones at Chesters may reveal similar 

voussoirs from that exercise. 

Based on a report by Lindsay 

Allason-Jones 


Portable Antiquities in Northumberla 

In September 2014, the Portable 

Antiquities Scheme (PAS) 

recorded its one millionth object 

and 906 of these have been found 

in Northumberland since January 

2012. Most objects are still found 

by metal detectorists; however 

there are also many found by field 

walkers and even gardeners. The 

objects range in date from the 

Mesolithic period (about 10,000 

BC to 4,000 BC) through to the 

post-medieval and modern periods. 

The object types range greatly and 

all can be seen on the Portable 

Antiquities Scheme website www. 

finds.org.uk. 

Some of the oldest objects 

reported to the PAS are flint tools 

which date to the period about 

9,000 to 3,450 BC and a group 

of them have been found in the 

Tyne Valley. Most of this group of 

objects are microliths which just 

means that they are very small 

worked stones and they were used 

together to create composite tools, 

mainly projectiles. There are also 

more obvious flint tools from the 

area including awls (DUR-6B4726) 

which were used to create holes in 

hides so that they could be sewn 

together. 

Most of the objects on the PAS 

database are made of metal 

and some of the earliest metal 

objects are weapons which date 

to the Bronze Age including this 

spearhead (NCL-E6C2CE). It is 

one of only five from the county 

and dates to the period 1500 to 

800 BC. It is nearly complete, 

however the blade would have 

originally been “leaf-shaped” 

and larger but, due to its long 

life span, the blade is now much 

smaller from repeated sharpening. 

It would have had a wooden shaft 

fitted in the socket and tied to the 

spearhead using the side loops. 

The presence of Hadrian’s Wall 

in the county means that Roman 

objects are particularly significant. 

After coins, brooches are the most 

common Roman finds and the 

1cm 

A cast copper-alloy spearhead of Middle-Late Bronze Age 

(see https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/628877). 


1cm 

A group of 

two flint awls 

of Mesolithic 

date 

(9000-3450 BC) 

from the 

Tyne Valley 

(see https:// 

finds.org.uk/ 

database/ 

artefacts/ 

record/ 

id/740382).

nd 

example shown (NCL-2B2544) is 

of a type known as a dragonesque. 

It is nearly complete with only 

part of the pin missing and, when 

first made, it would have been 

highly polished making it a very 

distinctive piece of jewellery. 

Brooches of this type are commonly 

found across the country but there 

is a concentration in the north of 

England and south of Scotland. 

This style is first used in the Iron 

Age; however it continues to 

be used into the Roman period. 

This is particularly interesting as 

the indigenous art style is found 

across Roman sites in Britain but 

often incorporates new techniques 

brought over from the Continent. 

Brooches are often used as markers 

for identity and the combination of 

the traditional styles with Roman 

techniques suggests a new sense of 

being Romano-British. 

One of the most important finds to 

be reported in recent years is the 

Alnwick Sword (NCL-7EF795). 

The sword dates to the period 

around AD 550 to 650 and is 

made through a process called 

pattern welding. This technique 

uses strands of different iron alloys 

which are heated and adhered 

to the surface of the blade and 

once cleaned and polished, this 

produces an intricate pattern. Due 

to the skill needed for this process, 

the result is high status weapons. 

Later, this sword was heated in a 

furnace and folded over on itself 

before being buried. This adds to 

the significance of this object as it 

suggests that it was “ritually killed” 

before being buried in the ground. 

The obvious effort required for 

this process means that it was 

important for the sword to be 

taken out of circulation and not 

used any longer. There are many 

potential reasons for this and one 

possibility is that the owner died 

and so his sword was killed in order 

for it to accompany him in death. 

It is worth noting that the sword 

was not found in isolation, but near 

An early Anglo-Saxon pyramidal mount from a sword-scabbard, made from cast 

gilded silver with garnet inlay 

(see https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/584446). 

to other objects of a similar date 

including a knife, some brooch 

fragments and a shield boss. 

Sometimes, small objects can be 

just as informative and important 

as larger objects or hoards. In 

November 2013, an Anglo Saxon 

object (NCL-925284) was reported 

from north of Hexham. This small 

pyramid-shaped object turned out 

to be a silver sword mount with 

spaces on each side and the top for 

small garnets. Some of these are 

missing, however the ones that are 

still present show that underneath 

is a thin sheet of cross-hatched 

gold which shows through the 

stone. The back of the object is 

hollow with a bar running from 

one side to the other. It is unclear 

what these objects were used for 

but they were probably attached to 

a scabbard using a leather thong 

as an ostentatious show of wealth. 

These small scabbard mounts are 

not uncommon finds, with famous 

examples from the Sutton Hoo 

burial and the Staffordshire Hoard, 

however this is the first example 

to be reported to the PAS from 

Northumberland. 

The Portable Antiquities Scheme 

is still recording finds from across 

1cm 

1cm 

A cast copper-alloy dragonesque 

brooch of the early Roman period, 

dating around AD 50-175 

(see https://finds.org.uk/database/ 

artefacts/record/id/523573). 

England and Wales with a network 

of local Finds Liaison Officers. If you 

or someone you know has found an 

artefact that you would like to have 

identified or recorded, please contact 

your local Finds Liaison Officer, see 

PAS website: www.finds.org.uk. 

Lauren Proctor 

Finds Liaison Officer 


New designations 

A number of sites in the County have 

recently been recognised by Historic 

England as nationally important. 

They include an 18th century wreck 

site at Bamburgh, a Second World 

War and Cold War Heavy Anti- 

Aircraft Battery at Gloucester Lodge, 

Blyth, prehistoric rock art panels 

(see p31), and a medieval monastic 

site in Berwick identified as Leonard’s 

Nunnery. Each of these sites now 

enjoys protection as a Scheduled 

Monument. 

More information about all these 

sites can be found in the English 

Heritage Designation Yearbook 

2013-2104 

(https://historicengland.org. 

uk/images-books/publications/ 

designation-yearbook-2013-14/) 

and on the National Heritage List 

(https://www.historicengland.org. 

uk/listing/the-list/) 

The Bamburgh wreck was revealed after severe weather in June 2013. 

The wooden vessel is of carvel construction and lay buried in the sand. 

Tree-ring studies of some of the timbers indicate that the vessel was probably 

built in, or shortly after, 1768. By early 2014 the wreck had been reclaimed 

by the sand and no trace remained exposed. 

Painting by Thomas Bush Hardy RBA 1842-97. 

EW 


St Leonard’s Nunnery site, 

Berwick-upon-Tweed was founded 

in 1140 by King David of Scotland. 

Although little can be seen of the 

site today, its remains have been 

recorded from aerial photographs, 

geophysics and excavation. The 

nunnery was sacked after the 

Scottish defeat at the Battle of 

Halidon Hill in 1333 and appears 

never to have recovered. 

Photograph: Alan Williams 

Gloucester Lodge was one of only a few Second World War sites 

retained as part of the Nucleus Force and adapted for Cold War use. It was 

adapted and re-modelled in 1946 and the physical remains that survive today 

are dominated by the Cold War remodelling. 

Aerial photograph of Gloucester Lodge Battery (BKS 18400 1960).

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS 

Northumberland Conservation contributors: 

Karen Derham, Annette Reeves, Sara Rushton, Jessica Turner, 

Liz Williams 

Other contributors: 

Phil Abramson Ministry of Defence, Stuart Ainsworth 

University of Chester, Lindsay Allason-Jones, 

Phil Bowyer Tynedale North of the Wall Archaeology Group, 

Brian Buchanan Durham University, Richard Carlton 

The Archaeological Practice, Jan Frazer Holystone Archaeology 

Group, Paul Frodsham, Vince Gaffney University of Bradford, 

Paul Gethin Bamburgh Research Project, Melanie Johnson 

CFA Archaeology, Chris Jones Northumberland National Park, 

Rupert Lotherington Archaeological Research Services, 

Jon McKelvey AD Archaeology, Roger Miket, 

Warren Muncaster AD Archaeology, John Nolan 

Northern Counties Archaeological Services, Darren Oliver 

Durham University, Al Oswald Sheffield University, 

Lauren Proctor Portable Antiquities Scheme, Martin Railton 

Wardell Armstrong Archaeology, Peter Ryder, Sarah Semple 

Durham University, Kate Sharpe, Kate Wilson Historic England 

Northumberland Conservation can be 

contacted on the following telephone numbers 

and email addresses: 

Chris Burgess & Sara Rushton: 

Northumberland Conservation Managers and 

County Archaeologists (job share) 

Tel: (01670) 622650 

Email: archaeology@northumberland.gov.uk 

Nick Best & Karen Derham: 

Assistant County Archaeologists 

Development Management and Planning 

Tel: (01670) 622657 / 622655 


Sharon Kelly, Annette Reeves & Val Robson: 

Building Conservation Officers 

Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas 

Tel: (01670) 622645 / 622659 / 622711 

Email: conservation@northumberland.gov.uk 

Liz Williams: 

Heritage and Historic Environment Record Officer 

Historic Environment Record, aerial photographs and 

historic landscape character 

Tel: (01670) 622656 


John Scott: 

Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site Management 

Plan Co-ordinator 

Tel: 07725 957901 


Northumberland Conservation, Development 

Services, Planning Economy & Housing, 

Northumberland County Council, 

County Hall, Morpeth, NE61 2EF 

Tel: (01670) 620305, 


Published in 2016 by Northumberland County Council with the 

support of the Friends of Archaeology in Northumberland 

www.northumberland.gov.uk/archaeology 

ISSN 1357 7255 

Retail: £5.00

Archaeology in Northumberland

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